I live for this show. I cannot put it into words. Ok, maybe I can. I even loved Expose. That said, I really don't like these "flash sideways." I'm sure by episode 11 they will reveal the connection and it'll blow our minds and it'll be amazing, but until then I'm having a hard time getting invested in anything that happens in them. All the woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff like Ethan delivers Claire's baby....meh.

As of "What Kate Does" all the sideways storytelling seems to do for me is take time away from the on-island narrative which I'm deeply invested in.

So what's your opinion on this season's device?

I agree. I'm not a fan either. Although Jack and Locke's scene in LAX airport was one of my favorites from the premiere, I don't think enough is going on to spend half of each show on this other timeline. I think we got the point that everything is a little different, everyone still becomes connected. I'm also against the timelines converging and hoping that it just goes away or something.

What about episode 11? Arbitrary number?

I hated it when I watched last week,Ididn't care about the other timeline people. Then after watching it like 10 times (always FF through the Juliet part) I did become a little intrested. Tonights show was a little draggy in both timelines except for the reveals/ But I am starting to get into the other TL. They are still filling the show with fluff that they don't have time for.

What about episode 11? Arbitrary number?

Yeah, I just picked a number that's after the halfway point of the season.
Not based on anything.

I just want to know what the point of the alternate timeline is, other than to be clever with stuff like Ethan helping with the baby. I mean, what next, Claire drops Aaron off at daycare, and the daycare is run by a French lady named Danielle who once went on a science expedition in a boat?

I love it

I live for this show. I cannot put it into words. Ok, maybe I can. I even loved Expose. That said, I really don't like these "flash sideways." I'm sure by episode 11 they will reveal the connection and it'll blow our minds and it'll be amazing, but until then I'm having a hard time getting invested in anything that happens in them. All the woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff like Ethan delivers Claire's baby....meh.

As of "What Kate Does" all the sideways storytelling seems to do for me is take time away from the on-island narrative which I'm deeply invested in.

So what's your opinion on this season's device?
Amen! (Brutha or Sista; Whatever the Case May Be)
You have essentially crystalized my exact thoughts.
As far as your episode guess, from what I know of titles and centrics, (up to 13) I'd probably go along with you, maybe one or two sooner. I would really like to see a Jacob and/or Man in Black centric and have them be entriely mythology focused. I have NO knowledge of this which is why it's not spoiler-fonted. What I can tell you is that we will see the sideways reality up until at least episode 13, and from what I know of this episode, it will be more of the same, "Oh,isn't that cute, Ethan as Claire's baby doctor" kind of stuff( I know much more than this; like the situation of the LA stuff, who the centric character will interact with,& in what cutesy what-if scenario. ( I don't know if every ep will contain sideways deal) I don't know if there is a spoiler thread just for titles & centrics but if anyone wants that info, PM me, and I'll share. I knew of the flash-sideways (minus what to call it) for months now, and wondered how it would make any sense, and trying to have faith that there was something beyond what the spoilers told me that would make it cool.

I figured, somehow in the other timeline they would all end up on the Island anyway, and while it seemed a little repetitive, escape in a helicopter, or in a whole divergence of the timestream, and still "Have to go Baaaack" Then the one thing I didn't know (Island underwater)
blew any chance of that into the water.
I hated it when I watched last week,Ididn't care about the other timeline people. Then after watching it like 10 times (always FF through the Juliet part) I did become a little intrested. Tonights show was a little draggy in both timelines except for the reveals/ But I am starting to get into the other TL. They are still filling the show with fluff that they don't have time for.
Glad to know, I'm not the only to re-watch so many times( and FF the same). I'll admit I liked them a little more with a couple views.
It just seems like an insult to those of us who have liked each season more than the last.
I keep hearing all this polar-bear feces about returning to character driven stories, and how anyone can watch this season, because it is of absolutely no importance that a viewer know what happened in the "Real Lost Timeline" (my term).

Why should a show which is already popular, isn't trying to get renewed, and is known for being smart and requiring mental investment give a frakking farthing for creating a show non-Lost fans can watch?

For me especially, in that I came in at the end of S2 and then watched all of S1 & 2 on DVD in like a week or two, during the S3 hiatus. The show was always about the mythology and all of the character based stuff, was part of understanding the history of the people involved in this mythology. All this flash sideways stuff so far is the kind of thing I would find fun in fan-fiction or a Lost comic book, but when there's such a finite amount of air-time left, this seems to be excruciatingly wasteful.:33:


I love it

It's good someone does. I'm curious, why?
Did you not really like seasons 3,4, & 5?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re-reading this post it dawned on me that TPB have mentioned their fear of the reaction to the end of Lost. Perhaps this sideways stuff is to make the ending seem better by compasrison.

I worry that the writers heard the fans talk about how much they loved season 1 and decided to actually bring season 1 flashbacks back. Now while I'm sure there is a point to it in the greater scope of things, so far it has been really boring versions of the season 1 flashbacks with cutesy appearances of characters so we can say "oh look there is Charlie, Boon, Ethan..."

Originally Posted by MaggieRyanJr
I love it It's good someone does. I'm curious, why?
Did you not really like seasons 3,4, & 5?

Enjoying character based stories and enjoying mythology are not mutually exclusive. Part of the reason why "Lost" is one of my favorite shows ever is that I like both.

Since it is only 3 hours in, I'll reserve judgement on the flash sideways for now. I can see that at this point early in the season, it does seem a little pointless that they're delving into this imaginary world of what "might've been".

But at the same time, some of the scenes I've liked most in "LA X" and "What Kate Does" came from the flash sideways. I've actually found BOTH the sideways AND the On-island storylines to be hit and miss so far this season, in terms of believability of character motivations and quality of dialogue. I'm not hating the episodes, but I've been disappointed as well.

I really hate to say this, but we're 4 hours in and the LAX timeline is going absolutely no where. Yes, all of the characters are meeting each other even though they're not on the island. But that's it. Literally nothing else is happening! I know Damon and Carlton are better than that - so why is half of the show so slow, especially for the final season! I know there's going to be a pay off, but I'm worrying its going to be a really slow burn and will happen towards the end, maybe even in the finale.

It's cool seeing the characters with what have happened basically if the plane didn't crash, but not when it takes away half of each show. And since we're only seeing one main character an episode, I don't think we're going to be in any situations where all the Losties come together anytime soon.

The rule is, what happened happened. This is a fancy way of saying that they cannot use time travel as a way to "undo" something that has already been done. Once something has happened, that's it...there is no undo button.

The timeline was split when they detonated the bomb because Oceanic 815 crashed onto the Island...and the bomb went off. The bomb going off would have cancelled out the plane crashing..yet the plane NOT crashing would have prevented any bomb from being detonated because the Losties would have never gotten to the Island and detonated a nuclear bomb. Yet, these two events ended up happening...

Since there is no undoing something that has been done, the only way both events (bomb detonating, plane not crashing) could possibly exist is in a split-timeline. That is the only way the universe could even start to course correct this problem.

This is why there are TWO timelines, and they are not alternative or "what-if" scenarios. Both timelines ARE HAPPENING. The producers have confirmed this...so it's okay to be invested in both timelines because they are both considered real.

We still haven't even been shown the consequences for when a person is killed during this split timeline. Locke was already dead prior to the bomb going off, so he doesn't count....(at least not right now).

Right now, I'd hate it if something happened to Flash-sideways Locke because he's so happy...and Hurley is the same way. I hope they both end up on the light-side rather than end up with the fate of the Island. So there's another way to look at it.

In fact, I think the whole point is to show them how much more content they were about their problems than they were when this Island was still above water. It looked at the beginning as if everyone seemed back to the way they were...but even Sawyer was smiling in LA X! So maybe we should be rooting for the timeline where they didn't crash. Its starting to make me realize just how miserable the Island made everyone.

Yeah I think this is the big problem with the devise alright; it just feels like we're watching repeats of season 1. Season 6 should have been all on-island and in a single timeline. I think after 5 season of jumping around the audience deserved that payoff

Listening to the writers discussing the issue has me worried I have to say. They specifically said in a recent podcast that the flash-sideways are the major mystery of season six. I find this incredible. Here is Lostpedia's list of unanswered questions in the first 5 seasons
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Unanswered_questions_by_episode

And yet despite this enormous catalogue they decide to introduce a completely new all encompassing mystery that nobody really cares about. I understand that the enigmatic nature of Lost is what we love about it but the show will be remembered as a disappointment if some decent explanation isn't offered.

For the writers to say they don't care who built the statue and then advise viewers to trust them regarding the flash-sideways is asking a lot of us
I think we will be stuck with this format for the whole season and that really doesn't excite me.

This is why there are TWO timelines, and they are not alternative or "what-if" scenarios. Both timelines ARE HAPPENING. The producers have confirmed this...so it's okay to be invested in both timelines because they are both considered real.

When did the TPTB confirm this?

When did the TPTB confirm this?

In the first "official lost podcast" of season 6.

Yup...and if people would actually go back and watch previous seasons knowing what we know about this second timeline, you might actually make a few connections and some of your questions might just be answered.

I don't think this flash sideways is "throwing something else" into the fire when it seems as if this may be the source for all the weirdness throughout the series. It also fits into the Whatever Happened, Happened rules of time travel. This is a way to say, "Nothing that happened already can be undone." So the only way the plane could have crashed and NOT crashed was two timelines. It's very logical, and when I learned about the second timeline, I actually hit myself on the forehead and went, "Of course!!"

Who said each question was going to have it's own answer, perhaps one answer could actually answer several questions? I think this other timeline will answer quite a few questions.

The problem is there are some people who seem to need Damon and Carlton to pull them by their collar and scream, "YES! THAT WAS THE ANSWER!!" into their faces.

Right now, these questions being answered start from the first season onward...and if people are not going to invest the time to go back and watch previous seasons, then the writers may as well have been making it up as they went along.

Heck, I had a debate with someone about Claire being 'claimed.' The only reason for the debate was that they completely forgot about Claire's house in New Otherton being hit by a bazooka...it looked as if she had been killed...and after she came to, she slowly started acting strangely, and ended up wandering away from Aaron. So I'm pretty sure she died and was "claimed" which was backed up when the leader in the temple told Jack that his sister had been claimed. The thing is, they didnt show a flashback of that event, you had to remember that it happened...which is good because I don't want time spent showing us things that we've already seen when we have the means to go back and watch previous episodes.

This flash-sideways has already provided me with a big picture of what has been going on....but I had to go back and remember what had happened before and actually make an effort to put the pieces together.

I advise anyone confused to try to go back think of what happened before and use the knowledge we have now to try to answer earlier questions. If you expect a character to go, "OMG! Those two are Adam and Eve!" or Hurley to shout, "Oh, so thats why Charlie came to me at the hospital!" you're probably going to be disappointed.

In the first "official lost podcast" of season 6.

Yup...and if people would actually go back and watch previous seasons knowing what we know about this second timeline, you might actually make a few connections and some of your questions might just be answered.

I don't think this flash sideways is "throwing something else" into the fire when it seems as if this may be the source for all the weirdness throughout the series. It also fits into the Whatever Happened, Happened rules of time travel. This is a way to say, "Nothing that happened already can be undone." So the only way the plane could have crashed and NOT crashed was two timelines. It's very logical, and when I learned about the second timeline, I actually hit myself on the forehead and went, "Of course!!"

Who said each question was going to have it's own answer, perhaps one answer could actually answer several questions? I think this other timeline will answer quite a few questions.

The problem is there are some people who seem to need Damon and Carlton to pull them by their collar and scream, "YES! THAT WAS THE ANSWER!!" into their faces.

Right now, these questions being answered start from the first season onward...and if people are not going to invest the time to go back and watch previous seasons, then the writers may as well have been making it up as they went along.

Heck, I had a debate with someone about Claire being 'claimed.' The only reason for the debate was that they completely forgot about Claire's house in New Otherton being hit by a bazooka...it looked as if she had been killed...and after she came to, she slowly started acting strangely, and ended up wandering away from Aaron. So I'm pretty sure she died and was "claimed" which was backed up when the leader in the temple told Jack that his sister had been claimed. The thing is, they didnt show a flashback of that event, you had to remember that it happened...which is good because I don't want time spent showing us things that we've already seen when we have the means to go back and watch previous episodes.

This flash-sideways has already provided me with a big picture of what has been going on....but I had to go back and remember what had happened before and actually make an effort to put the pieces together.

I advise anyone confused to try to go back think of what happened before and use the knowledge we have now to try to answer earlier questions. If you expect a character to go, "OMG! Those two are Adam and Eve!" or Hurley to shout, "Oh, so thats why Charlie came to me at the hospital!" you're probably going to be disappointed.

I totally agree with you. There are still a good bit of people that still think polar bears are a mystery, yet at 4 key points in the series there is enough information given to solve that mystery, you just have to connect the dots. I started this thread right after WKDoes and I may have overreacted a bit. Man that was a bad, first watch episode. I've rewatched a couple times since and it has grown on me. I am also coming around to embrace the sideways as I feel it's what happens after the on-island timeline. Sort of like a curtain call for our Losties. Whatever it is, I'm liking it more after the Substitute.

I still think the "Sideways" reality is unnecessarily complicating a situation that was already extremely complicated. So far, I could care less about the Sideways reality. I want to learn more about what happens with our Losties, the ones we've watched for 5 years, not some interloper-lostie-clones. If the multiple-universes-of-quantum-physics theory is indeed true, there are an infinite number of "Sideways" worlds and an infinite number of "Sideways Losties". Who cares? So what if there are parallels - oh, look, isn't that neat, Kate and Claire get in the same cab, Jack meets Locke, Locke meets Boone, Locke and Helen are together. So? Anyone can write a bunch of alternate lives for these characters. I want to see what happens to our bunch of characters.

..and that's like saying, "Oh, I think the whole war part of Saving Private Ryan was unnecessary..." or, "Who cares about the Oz part of The Wizard of Oz, if it was just a dream, why should we care about her fate during the movie?"

Really...complaining about it now when we're only to the 5th hour and the entire 6th season has already been written...well, its not going to change anything and you really have no "context" of how the Flash sideways fits in yet.


I still think the "Sideways" reality is unnecessarily complicating a situation that was already extremely complicated. So far, I could care less about the Sideways reality. I want to learn more about what happens with our Losties, the ones we've watched for 5 years, not some interloper-lostie-clones. If the multiple-universes-of-quantum-physics theory is indeed true, there are an infinite number of "Sideways" worlds and an infinite number of "Sideways Losties". Who cares? So what if there are parallels - oh, look, isn't that neat, Kate and Claire get in the same cab, Jack meets Locke, Locke meets Boone, Locke and Helen are together. So? Anyone can write a bunch of alternate lives for these characters. I want to see what happens to our bunch of characters.

..and that's like saying, "Oh, I think the whole war part of Saving Private Ryan was unnecessary..." or, "Who cares about the Oz part of The Wizard of Oz, if it was just a dream, why should we care about her fate during the movie?"

Really...complaining about it now when we're only to the 5th hour and the entire 6th season has already been written...well, its not going to change anything and you really have no "context" of how the Flash sideways fits in yet.

Like I said before, I am slowly coming around to them. I would like to add that whatever the sideways turn out to be, I'm sure it will be amazing, as has been the entire series. But right out of the gate I'm having a hard time caring about them. That is all.

Who said each question was going to have it's own answer, perhaps one answer could actually answer several questions? I think this other timeline will answer quite a few questions.

The problem is there are some people who seem to need Damon and Carlton to pull them by their collar and scream, "YES! THAT WAS THE ANSWER!!" into their faces.

Right now, these questions being answered start from the first season onward...and if people are not going to invest the time to go back and watch previous seasons, then the writers may as well have been making it up as they went along.


I'm with Meano and Hanover on this. The number of conversations I've had with people about the so-called 'irritating' nature of Lost's mysteries, struggling to justify to a room of strangers why I'm committed to seeing it through.

A common comment is "If Lost doesn't answer all its questions, it'll be a complete waste of time for everyone involved." Its a fairly petty demand that fails to appreciate a lot about the show.

Getting such people to appreciate that its more down to their taste in TV more than any particular fault with the show's creators 'knowing' what's going on is an uphill struggle.

My feeling is that there's plenty of easy, instant payoff television out there to watch. In fact, pretty much all television is that.

Finally, something comes along that presents mystery, subtlety, ambiguity, complexity in an easily watchable format with some pretty compelling characters and situations (I mean, plot wise it beats the stuffing out of 24, for starters) - and all these people know how to do is say 'Huh, wha happened?'.

Ironically (or perhaps purposefully), this whole debate is now (with the MiB's 'recruitment' of Sawyer shedding a lot of light on this) - part of the allegory of the show.

Like the writers, Jacob is a patient, watchful man who controls the character's destinies - their futures are (apparently) his to mould. All he asks in return is a little faith, preserving the mysteries that protect him and the Island. The writers seem to be saying, as Jacob practically does to his followers: Trust us, and you shall be rewarded.

By contrast, his Nemesis is impatient, focused on the past, not a believer and cares little for anything else beyond what he wants. You know that his answers will come at a price, the cost of revealing something unique that was always meant to be hidden (i.e. the Island).

I loved watching this show, and it would take a monumental act of hubris on the part of the show's creators to make me regret my commitment. Given how many fans there are worldwide, I imagine TPTB know this better than I do, and for that reason I trust them.

On the subject of the alternate timelines, you might want to check out this thread. I think its a likely scenario, for the reasons I've posted there:

http://forum.thefuselage.com/showthread.php?t=120587

I've always found flashes to be less interesting than each episode's main story.

The sideways stuff epitomizes this because, while sometimes intriguing, pales in comparison to the island story, especially now that a lot of cool island stuff is going down. I know (hope) at one point there's an "ah" moment where the significance of the flashes will become clear, but I'm watching each episode as it comes... I can't retroactively rate an episode based on how it later gained significance... Putting those pieces together after the fact is fun, but in the here and now, sideways can be kind of boring.

I've always found flashes to be less interesting than each episode's main story.

The sideways stuff epitomizes this because, while sometimes intriguing, pales in comparison to the island story, especially now that a lot of cool island stuff is going down. I know (hope) at one point there's an "ah" moment where the significance of the flashes will become clear, but I'm watching each episode as it comes... I can't retroactively rate an episode based on how it later gained significance... Putting those pieces together after the fact is fun, but in the here and now, sideways can be kind of boring.

Yea exactly. The flashbacks were getting a little old in S3 when they introduced the flashforwards. I liked the FFs because they showed events that were going to happen but relevant to all of the characters in the story. Then in S5 we had on-island and 1977. Both stories (although the '77 side was a little slow) were relevant to the whole story, from Namaste to The Incident. With these flash-sideways, there is no relevance at all yet. I'm positive there will be a payoff later, where we can go back and say "ahhh" but right now they are boring. I want more than 22 minutes of island story every week. The flashbacks were okay in the beginning seasons because we were still getting settled on the island and learning the characters. Now, the story has picked up dramatically, and this Season 1 pacing (in the sideways world) isn't interesting to me. I think it's cool, but not what I want to spend half the show on.

to be honest, I actually thought Alt Jack's story was much more interesting than the Island. His was the first sideways that didn't use or need cameos by other characters for no reason. Dogen being at the recital was very interesting.

For me, Jack having a kid was genius. I don't care that he was introduced so late in the show. It just makes perfect sense that he'd have a teenage son, coming full circle.

to be honest, I actually thought Alt Jack's story was much more interesting than the Island.


Same here. I like Jacks character growth, the hint towards memories being wrong, and seeing Jack as a father. I think the flash sideways may get better as we start to see the purpse and meaning of it.

I think we're in for a big upsetting of our expectations of the alt universe.

And by the way, I am a really big fan of the alt. I found Kate's experience pretty forced, more awkwardly set out than normal for Lost; but aside from that, I'm really loving it. There's some real depth that grounds what is massively becoming an exercise in mysticism. We had all the hard sci-fi we were going to get in Season 5.

I'm not a fan of the Alt. Not because it takes time away from answers but because I find the dialogue written for the characters to be dull. I don't care that there is supposed to be some huge pay off in the end. Why should I have to sit through hours and hours of boring and crappy writing to get to one hour of revelation? I wouldn't sit through a terrible 2 hour movie just because the ending is supposed to be fantastic, yet I have to sit and be bored out of my skull for who knows how many episodes because this supposed make sense later?

As was mentioned upthread- I don't know these alt people and I could not care less about them. I don't know their experiences, I don't know the point, I don't know why they are doing what they are doing and I find a huge disconnect when they switch from island to ALT timeline. It is jarring to me to be taken out of one story to watch what amounts to clones of the people I have grown to love and care about.

I'm glad that other people like this storytelling device and that they are having fun with it, because I really wish I did. I miss being entertained and excited by this show.

I loved the way that they used Flashbacks to give us the back story and connections of the characters.

I loved the way they used the flashforwards to show us how life was for the losties after they left the island.

I loved the way they used the time travel to tell the backstory of the island/others/US Army/Dharma/etc.

For that reason, I have to believe that this alternate reality is going to make sense once the smoke clears (pun intended)

That said, I do REALLY hope and will be pissed if I don't get answers to all of the crazy questions that have been out there for over 5 years. I trust that I will because the show has been fantastic so far and with D&C saying all along that things in season 1 were put in the show with the end in mind, I feel that most of the direction of the final season has been written (or at least known to them) since the beginning.

I do want to see the answers to Adam and Eve, Jack and Claire getting together and disscussing the fact that they're hafl bro/sis, who and why Jacob brought certain people including Henry gale/etc.

I still have a feeling that the "course correction" statement by Hawkings is key and that may be how they connect the alt to the present somehow.

"Sundown"
Another horrible sideways episode. I'm loosing faith.

Season 6: The Season of Answers (to questions you don't care about)
Dogen's baseball (a mild question we only asked 2 weeks ago)
Shannon's inhaler (a mild question no one was asking about)

(sigh)

For me, a picture is worth a thousand words:
http://www.docarzt.com/lost/lost-news/flashsideways/

"Sundown"
Another horrible sideways episode. I'm loosing faith.

Season 6: The Season of Answers (to questions you don't care about)
Dogen's baseball (a mild question we only asked 2 weeks ago)
Shannon's inhaler (a mild question no one was asking about)

(sigh)

So what ARE your questions?

Seriously, maybe you ought to put down your little notepad of questions and just pay attention to the story. I don't want a story that just rattles off a list of answers, I just want everything to make some sort of sense by the end of it.

Seriously, do you remember that Lost is actually a STORY?

I imagine people rocking back and forth, with spittle coming out of their mouths chanting, "answers...answers...I want answers..."

Honestly, I couldn't care less about answers (as long as they wrap the major stuff up in the finale, I'm fine) during the last season. Like Hanover said, LOST is a story, and after yesterday's amazing episode, a pretty great one. I didn't think for one moment about the fact that nothing was answered yesterday. In fact, the only time I think about answers is when the episode lacks an interesting story, like in What Kate Does.

To say that there were no answers in yesterday's story isn't quite accurate...

We now know for sure that:

- Sayid and Claire have gone to the dark side
- Dogen's been pretty truthful since the get go (except when he had an agenda to fulfill which required for him to use deceit on someone from the other side, ie. Sayid)
- MiB may speak in indirect ways, but it appears he actually does what he says

Anyone caught other truths revealed yesterday?

So what ARE your questions?

Seriously, maybe you ought to put down your little notepad of questions and just pay attention to the story. I don't want a story that just rattles off a list of answers, I just want everything to make some sort of sense by the end of it.

Seriously, do you remember that Lost is actually a STORY?

I imagine people rocking back and forth, with spittle coming out of their mouths chanting, "answers...answers...I want answers..."

Yes, I know that Lost is actually a STORY and the STORY of the flash sideways are painfully boring and until they reveal the context of what they are I feel like we are missing out on 21 minutes of each episode. This is an anti-sideways thread. I've watched this series completely through 7 times. I don't want them to answer life's big questions, I only want them to answer the questions that they asked in the world that they created.

Before the season began, I thought "Wow, only 18 hours (actually 12.6 hours) left of Lost. It's going to be a hell of a ride." We are now 6 episodes in and half of each episode is devoted to telling the story of characters we have no context for. I don't care if Sayid meets Jin in an alternate universe or an iteration before or after the main one. Then the on-island stuff has been like a Three's Company episode with people coming and going to the Temple.

Look, I love the show and I really hope it pays off. This is by far the worst start to a season that I can remember. Last season was an amazing beginning. So far this year's highlights have been Sawyer and Flocke's time together. Hurley, Jack and Jacob at the Lighthouse and that's about it for me. I cringe when the sideways flash noise starts.

That is all.
100%

- Dogen's been pretty truthful since the get go (except when he had an agenda to fulfill which required for him to use deceit on someone from the other side, ie. Sayid)
Anyone caught other truths revealed yesterday?

So Dogen's been pretty truthful except for lying to Jack about curing Sayid. Then lying to Sayid about killing Flocke. Ok, I think I got it.

Also, this isn't a "What truths were revealed" thread. this is a "complain about the sideways" thread.
100%
Honestly, I couldn't care less about answers (as long as they wrap the major stuff up in the finale, I'm fine) during the last season. Like Hanover said, LOST is a story, and after yesterday's amazing episode, a pretty great one. I didn't think for one moment about the fact that nothing was answered yesterday. In fact, the only time I think about answers is when the episode lacks an interesting story, like in What Kate Does.

I agree with your answer to story ratio thought. The on-island story was ok with a strong final 10 minutes while the sideways was painfully boring. I really don't care if Sayid's brother made poor business decisions in a world we have no context for. That's just how I feel right now and until we can connect the two stories I'm being robbed of half of an episode.

I really don't care if Sayid's brother made poor business decisions in a world we have no context for.

Then you missed the whole point of Sayid's flash sideways story. How about the fact they were showing that no matter what, Sayid will always be a killer?

Yes, now we understand why he was turned to the dark side.

Of course if we take that out we will have people screaming, "How could Sayid DO THAT?!"

So Dogen's been pretty truthful except for lying to Jack about curing Sayid. Then lying to Sayid about killing Flocke. Ok, I think I got it.

Also, this isn't a "What truths were revealed" thread. this is a "complain about the sideways" thread.

Yes, Dogen's agenda was always pretty clear. He never diverged from it.

And sorry about the unintentional thread hijack. Back onto the complaining, or non-complaining for that matter: I personally found most flash-sideways quite useful. The insights provided definitely give the target characters more depth, although the hints aren't always tht clear. But when is anything clear on Lost?

Then you missed the whole point of Sayid's flash sideways story. How about the fact they were showing that no matter what, Sayid will always be a killer?



We've known Sayid will always be a killer for years. Even after his "Habitat for Humanity" phase he started killing people again when he broke Hurley out of the mental hospital. later we see him shoot a 12 year old in the chest. Was this aspect of Sayid ever in question? Do we need more reinforcement of this idea? We learned that Sayid will still kill people even if Nadia tells him not to.

I liked Jack's sideways the best so far. Seeing him break the cycle with David was mildly interesting.

If we're going to keep it a sideways thread lets try to stop straying off topic. No matter what your view is, the flash sideways have shown that we're probably going to continue in this S1 style storytelling for half of the show until the end. There have only been a handful of hints that this universe might connect to what we've been watching for the past 5 seasons: nick on Jack's neck, scar on Jack's stomach, glances at the mirror by Jack, Kate, Locke (lack of glance), characters looking at each other in some sort of weird recognition. The rest have just shown us more of the same "oh look, they still act this way, and are still connected even though they weren't destined for the island." We need something to happen that will show us more importance for this flash-sideways world - which due to the single character centric storytelling style, I don't think we're going to get anytime soon.
By the way, one thing that will redeem the flash sideways, and made them really cool in my eyes, is if they show us more of what happened to the island. Are there rogue Others out there now?

Has anyone actually timed how long each timeline gets per episode? Are the flashsideways actually half?

IF we get a Richard episode and it's a stupid sideways and not a traditional flashback narrative I'm going to throw something through something. For reals.

IF we get a Richard episode and it's a stupid sideways and not a traditional flashback narrative I'm going to throw something through something. For reals.

I'm right there with you. There is no way any potential Richard episode (which has to be happening) is going to be a flash sideways and not a flashback.

Also, I just rewatched Sundown. I timed the duration of each timeline in the episode:
Flash-sideways - 13 minutes
Island: 27 minutes
Pretty interesting that we got double the island time than flash sideways. I'm wondering if this has been the case for every episode so far this season. Anyone care to go back and check?

I am a bit disappointed so far with season 6 after all the anticipation and ticking off the months on the calendar. We had been promised that all the questions would be answered, yet even a third of the way through the final season we're STILL getting new characters being added, and new side stories: Sayid's brother, David, possible Paik-Keamy connection, to name a few.

In the meantime we're left guessing about Kate's apparent shift to the dark side, Sawyer being absent and maybe mulling suicide over Juliet, no answers yet as to how Claire has spent the last three years, and ....what happened to Christian?? :confused: :frown:

I am a bit disappointed so far with season 6 after all the anticipation and ticking off the months on the calendar. We had been promised that all the questions would be answered, yet even a third of the way through the final season we're STILL getting new characters being added, and new side stories: Sayid's brother, David, possible Paik-Keamy connection, to name a few.

In the meantime we're left guessing about Kate's apparent shift to the dark side, Sawyer being absent and maybe mulling suicide over Juliet, no answers yet as to how Claire has spent the last three years, and ....what happened to Christian?? :confused: :frown:

I don't mind new minor sideways characters because they keep the story fresh in my opinion, keep the world we're watching populated and real. However, on the island, I'm not too much a fan of new characters. I liked Dogen, but now he's dead along with the translator. As much as I hated to see them die, it's an important milestone in heading to the end date. The fact that the writers killed them shows they are serious about getting rid of any miscellaneous characters that won't be important. My hope is that no new major characters are introduced on the island, but who knows.

p.s. It's weird to think that Miles knows Sawyer, Jin, and Hurley much better than Jack, Kate and crew know them. He's been with them almost 3 years longer. Crazy~

I didn't like Dogen much, or his "interpreter" Lennon. When they were added, I just slapped my own forehead because I had been hoping they would cover more of the Jacob/MIB story, and possibly a Richard/Black Rock connection, but instead we have yet another set of island characters that will soon be killed off.

I get flashbacks of the Nikki/Paulo disaster from season 3 - peripheral characters that are of no use whatsoever and only serve to take up time better spent in explaining a long list of interesting stories and histories that were left dangling.

I'd dearly like them to cover those before the end of the show:

We need more about: Eloise, Richard, Widmore, Faraday, Desmond/Penny, Ilana, Lapidus, etc.,

***MOD EDIT***
and less about the ghetto-girl bad cop, who is coming back in season 6 :mad: I was hoping we had seen the last of her :undecide:

Capmaster. Please do not post spoilers in any non-spoiler sections.
Thank you.

Oops ...I forgot. Sorry ...

Oops ...I forgot. Sorry ...

Yeah, it's ok, I didn't know that character was making an appearance. A lot of old ones have/ probably will, but until I see it live, I like not knowing. No worries. Very mild.

Yeah, it's ok, I didn't know that character was making an appearance. A lot of old ones have/ probably will, but until I see it live, I like not knowing. No worries. Very mild.Good. I know better than to do that. It's hard sometimes keeping the forums straight here, when some are "spoiler OK" and some aren't.

It won't happen again :)

I was slightly disappointed with the LAX flash-sideways apart from the Jack/Locke scene... completely disappointed with the entire episode of What Kate Does... but the Jack and Sayid flashes were great. I think the Jack flash-sideways might be the best yet... very engaging story.

I just hope that the flash sideways device isn't a religious nod to Daniel 7:25 in the literal sense:

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given unto his hand until a time and times and a dividing of time."

It's about time the island was mentioned in the flash-sideways! I enjoyed Ben's story this time around, but there still is little going on. How is this time line important?

It's about time the island was mentioned in the flash-sideways! I enjoyed Ben's story this time around, but there still is little going on. How is this time line important?That's exactly why I don't understand all the "10" votes in the rating poll for Dr. Linus. It was a decent enough episode - a big improvement over Lighthouse and Sundown, but what questions were answered? Really?

Richard was on the Black Rock - We knew that.
Ben redeemed himself by becoming a good teacher - We knew that.
Ilana is pissed off at Ben for killing Jacob - We saw that coming.
Jack says he's special and won't be killed by the dynamite because he's important - We knew he was important, and we figured the island would protect him somehow.
Miles is sarcastic - Miles was always sarcastic (gotta love his character! :cool: )
Hurley doesn't like dynamite, OR the Black Rock - We knew that.

We know the Losties lives are/were interconnected. That subplot has been going on since season 1.

Why are we still being hammered over the head with character development in the alt timeline. We get it - their lives are interconnected, and would be different without the crash, and many would find redemption had the crash not occurred. The only good reason I can see for TPTB to keep beating a dead horse is that maybe the two timelines are in parallel universes and are connected - like when Sayid kills Dogen, he is also killing Keamy. Turning points in one timeline occur at about the same time as turning points in the other. But I just don't see how they have the luxury of languishing on any particular subplot for long. They're running out of time, and unless they're planning to leave many things dangling, they need to stop cutting bait and start fishing :mad: We need the years-long mysteries answered ....now!

Let's move on to the linear island-only timeline and the end of the flash-sideways that we were promised 1/3 of the way through the season (we've already passed that point). Enough character development. We need real-time resolutions to the mysteries in ONE timeline - the island!