(no subject)

[salinea]

So now that Lost has ended, is it worth for me to watch it? Making note of how I hated the BSG finale season?

In other TV series related news, I've finally started watching S4&5 of Angel. Yeah, better late than never, took me only 7 years XD (back then downloading episodes was a hassle and didn't seem worth catching up a lot of episodes). I've finished S4 and am seven episodes deep into S5. So far I think I'm actually enjoying it more than I expected. (More than Dollhouse for example).


S4 wasn't too bad. The soap-like melodrama was pretty bad (Cordy was really not great as a villain, not sure if it's the writing or the actress, or both, but she was utterly un-fun to watch and that wasn't only the squick factor I think) and the epic rather cheesy, but the all metaplot all the time structure worked at being compelling pretty well. Watching Connor after watching Mad Men felt pretty weird at times XD (makes me wonder how good Don Drapper would be as a vampire with a soul, same diff? ^^) his voice especially is so distinctive. There are amusing parallels between the characters (Daddy issues, for one. Then again, I guess every male characters on American TV has daddy issues; it's like a prerequisite). Lilah and Wesley and Wesley/Lilah is sheer awesome ♥ Angelus was loads of fun. And some Faith is always good. I rather liked Jasmine too.

S5 has an intriguing set up but so far feels a bit underwhelming especially since I heard a lot of good of the season. Haven't been enjoying Spike all that much (which isn't a big surprise since I hadn't liked him much in Buffy S7, one of the other reasons I didn't go through the hassle of catching up with AtS).

Of course another issue I have with S5 is that it's apparently impossible to find subtitles and video files that synch well to one another. There's a couple of episodes where I had to pose at every chapter break in order to resynch the subtitles. Guess I could try watching sans subs, but I don't have hat good an ear and much as I lose Wesley's voice, it can be a bit tough to understand what he says.

I finished reading one book yesterday, yay me. First in months, there's hope for me yet :p

Comments

[metzhead.livejournal.com]

yeah, Lost is worth it, even though it gets insultingly dumb by the end. The pilot is one of the best series openers ever.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

BSG had a great first episode too! If it's for a dumb ending, I'm not sure I want to bother :(

[metzhead.livejournal.com]

yeah my problem with the show isn't that it ended not how I would have wanted, it's that the characters all started acting like morons halfway through the final season, and in some instances, way before that. If you can enjoy the journey, go for it, but if you want a good wrap up, this isn't a good show for you.

I will say this though, Lost had more OH WOW moments than any TV show I've ever seen.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

thanks! not sure what I'll do yet, but you were helpful :)

[werthead.livejournal.com]

I'd say part of the ending was dumb, part of it was good but strange and another part of it was overall pretty decent. Luckily, the really dumb/lame stuff that recalls the stupider elements of the BSG ending is not essential to the resolution of the story (in fact, I anticipate 'Phantom Edit' style fan recuttings of the final episode ejecting it), so that element is a misstep at the last hurdle rather than a retroactively series-destroying moment of stupidity like the ending of BSG (which, for my money, erased everything worthwhile from the series back to the end of New Caprica).

Overall LOST is decent. There are some missteps along the way and some mysteries left unsolved or under-developed (mostly secondary stuff though), but there's some good character development, some great lines and visuals and some really clever ideas in there. There's a long period in the second half of Season 2 and the first half of Season 3 where the quality dips and we get lots of filler, but if you can overcome that the rest of Season 3 and all of Seasons 4 and 5 are excellent. Season 6 is a bit more mixed.

To be honest you're probably better of watching LIFE ON MARS/ASHES TO ASHES first. It's shorter (40 episodes to LOST's 120), more contained, has less plot holes and the ending is excellent.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Gotcha. I'm not sure I want to thread through the boring parts, heh.

Yeah, I do need to watch Life on Mars, I'll probably get on to that as soon as I finish Hustle.

[matitablu.livejournal.com]

I don't know, the only person I know who saw BSG and Lost loved both endings, but *I* haven't seen BSG so I can't judge (though it's high on my to-watch list).

Re: the Lost ending - without spoiling anything, I know that if I was told it ended like this while I was watching the first season, I would have stopped watching straight away. BUT coming to it after the whole journey I positively liked it. Judging from the reactions around, I guess that those who liked the finale were those who put the characters' stories first, while those who focused on the mythology/sci-fi elements were disappointed. And the storytelling IS uneven - you can see which plot threads had been planned since the beginning and which ones were born (or died) because of contingencies; some of them become interwoven with the main plot so well you can't believe they were introduced in progress, others are blatant dead ends. But of course, well, you know I'm a total Lost junkie, to me the good trumps the bad. And I think that thematically the series has been really consistent - the ending is like the final illustration of things the characters have been saying since S1, which finally play out.

And sorry for the tl;dr ^^;

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

And sorry for the tl;dr ^^;
Not at all, this is very helpful!! BSG had a lot of inconsistency thematically as well and that was one of the reason I hated the ending, so you're right to stress that difference and that's certainly something for Lost. I think I can bear with plotholes more easily than themeholes :)

[q99.livejournal.com]

I rather liked Angel S5, it had some of my fav moments (and it DOES end well :) ).

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

it's getting better, three very good episodes in a row now, still pretty episodic so far but plot is starting to inch its way up.

and it DOES end well
hehe, sadly I'm somewhat spoiled about the ending.

[q99.livejournal.com]

I think it works even if you know it's coming.

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Lilah and Wesley and Wesley/Lilah is sheer awesome ♥ Angelus was loads of fun. And some Faith is always good. I rather liked Jasmine too.

Exactly my likes for season 4.

Re: Lost. The finale was mediocre. Less irritating than BSG. Not much of the "mystery" ever gets explained but there are no disappearing Starbucks or "angel" explanations. Basically the finale posits that the mysteries really don't matter except in how they effect the characters. I was meh about a lot of Lost, but season 4 was really awesome and the show spoils you with back story from day 1. The large cast is awesome in that there is always someone you like, but also frustrating as the show can spend weeks on characters you don't.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to see how it is with Lost. Mostly about the characters being in a weird situation and seeing how they react than actual plot?

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Yes. Interestingly enough, this wasn't obvious from the start but was definitely made clear by the end, and I actually think that coming in now and watching it knowing that would make the whole experience better.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Lost is not worth it. It raises a lot of fascinating questions, and doesn't answer any of them.

I loved the journey, but I can't in good concience recommend you start watching now knowing what I know about how it ends.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

heh, thanks for the anti-rec. I might just check a few episodes see if it grabs me enough but not insist otherwise.

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

Angel hits its stride in season five near the end. Not Fade Away is probably my favorite ending for a U.S. TV show ever. And I think you'll like Illyria. And Linage is awesome. LOL TALK ABOUT DADDY ISSUES THERE.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Lineage was definitely awesome :)

[savepureness.livejournal.com]

This reminds me that I dropped off Angel in mid-S4, due to thesis writing issues. Now I'm writing another thesis, it's been two years, so perhaps to stay with the theme I should finish the show as well.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

haha, yes you should.


Good lord, two thesis?

[savepureness.livejournal.com]

Yes >.> The first one was when I graduated, so once I got my BA. And now, though my MA is a, let's say, practical one, and I've been trained to be an interpreter, they came up with the stupid idea that we should write a thesis as well. Of course it makes me miserable, as I have only a month left and still no word written, but then again.

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

"S5 has an intriguing set up but so far feels a bit underwhelming especially since I heard a lot of good of the season. Haven't been enjoying Spike all that much (which isn't a big surprise since I hadn't liked him much in Buffy S7, one of the other reasons I didn't go through the hassle of catching up with AtS)."

I had mixed feelings about S5. I appreciate it was an attempt to take the show in a different direction and the premise is potentially interesting but the season story arc mostly wasn't all that compelling although there are some good episodes in there (particularly Smile Time). I think it might have been for the best that it was cancelled at the end of S6 since a sixth season would have lacked most of the characters I actually liked in the show, and the final episode was a fitting finale for the show.

I haven't seen the final season of Lost yet so can't comment on that. I'm currently wondering if I'll manage to avoid spoilers until I get to see it.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Hmmm I'm curious to see it for myself :)

Good luck on the not getting spoiled!

[berylia.livejournal.com]

Season 5 is by far my favourite Angel season, mostly because I had serious issues with Angel. And his son too because hello teenage Angel. But this season have a good season arch and quite a few awesome episodes.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

There's been quite a few good episodes yes! Not sure about the metaplot yet.

hahaha, Connor, he... has issues, oh boy. I can see how he'd be very irritating. I did spend a lot of time in S4 wanting to cut his hair. Can't say I'm crazy about Angel either but I like Angelus much more!

[berylia.livejournal.com]

Who in his right (wrong ?) mind doesn't like Angelus. I loved (and at the same time it broke my heart) the way he arranged everything for Giles to find Jenny's body.

(BTW Miles is his usual awesomeness !)

[zombie-process.livejournal.com]

J'ignore si la question de cette entrée est toujours pertinente, mais au cas où...

Ça dépend ce que tu recherches dans une série. La plupart des personnages sont très intéressants/attachants et il y a toujours le facteur mindfuck qui peut s'avérer assez fun. Artistiquement, la série est aussi très bien foutue : musique orchestrée, superbe photo, grands acteurs (notamment Michael Emerson et Terry O Quinn), etc.

En revanche si tu recherches une intrigue bien ficelée il faut donner sa chance à Babylon 5, ça vaut moins le coup.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

toujours, toujours :)

j'adore les bons mindfucks, donc ça ajoute un bon +10% aux chances que j'ai regarder cette série un jour, et si la fille sur ton icone est dans la série, ça un fait un autre +10% (yum)

Babylon 5 est définitivement dans la liste des séries que je veux regarder un jour ^^

Et sinon, bonjour et bienvenu dans ma flist ♥

[zombie-process.livejournal.com]

Ana-Lulu est effectivement un personnage de Lost (et malheureusement un des plus détestés, mais je ne laisse pas ce genre de détails triviaux se mettre en travers de mon adoration sans borne :p).

Ah, ça me fait plaisir ! J'espère que ça te plaira quand tu auras l'occasion d'y jeter un oeil (en espérant que tu aies une certaine tolérance pour les mauvais effets spéciaux des années 90 herm).

Bonjour et merci beaucoup :)