# 283

[sschroeder]

X-Files ran for nine seasons, not seven.

Lost is a "bottle show" only on the surface. The flashbacks enable other locales and subject matter.

[MatthewDiCarlo]

There's nothing in comics I love quite as much as having a book with a whole bunch of subplots.

And there's nothing I like less than when a story ends.

And yes I love DC right now and the idea that every issue isn't a chapter of Green Lantern but a chapter of THE DCU, with all of its flaws and imperfections and lack of focus. It's worth it to me.

Proving once again (like it feels almost every other week with this column) that I represent about the worst possible sort of fan when it comes to the industry being healthy in the long term.

[bartl]

X-Files ran for nine seasons, not seven.

Lost is a "bottle show" only on the surface. The flashbacks enable other locales and subject matter.
The producers of LOST have declared an end date, by which time all mysteries will be solved, and everybody will be either rescued or dead (I think it's season 5).

IIRC, Buffy the Vampire Slayer managed to surprise everybody by having the major villain destroyed at the end of the first season, then went into season-long story arc mode, which created an impossible to keep up "can you top this" of villains.

The best at this was Farscape, which managed to have the story shift from teh hero trying to get back to Earth and escape a vengeful spaceship commander to eventually making a sort of peace with the spaceship commander, but discovering along the way that the technology that put him into the situation in the first place was the basis of what could be the intersteller version of the H-Bomb on Earth.

[Dennis]

Lost and Battlestar are the only 2 shows i watch. The problem with Lost is that the mystery is just too damn good. the mystery is thought provoking because we know so little about it, and it's so weird. So it can be riveting for awhile, but when they reveal what's really going on, it's of course going to be disappointing. It's like finding out the secret to a great magic trick..."oh, is that all?" There were some great episodes in the first 2 seasons, but every ep this season has been abysmal.

Battlestar right now is just stalling. When the humans were being chased by the cylons, that was great stuff. but you can't have this chasing forever, because then what.

so you can't keep a mystery going on forever. and you can't keep chasing someone forever. So what can you do?

The answer is Love Triangles. Life is about relationships, not about exciting action scenes. So let's just focus on the relationship problems of superhot people.

[Charles RB]

The answer is Love Triangles.

Like hell it is - if I want to be bored to death by love triangles, there's a whole load of other shows I can watch.

[mattx110]

Lost and Battlestar are the only 2 shows i watch. The problem with Lost is that the mystery is just too damn good. the mystery is thought provoking because we know so little about it, and it's so weird. So it can be riveting for awhile, but when they reveal what's really going on, it's of course going to be disappointing. It's like finding out the secret to a great magic trick..."oh, is that all?" There were some great episodes in the first 2 seasons, but every ep this season has been abysmal.

Battlestar right now is just stalling. When the humans were being chased by the cylons, that was great stuff. but you can't have this chasing forever, because then what.

so you can't keep a mystery going on forever. and you can't keep chasing someone forever. So what can you do?

The answer is Love Triangles. Life is about relationships, not about exciting action scenes. So let's just focus on the relationship problems of superhot people.
the answer is being well-plotted, and having a buncha clever guys get in a room and say "after we solve this thing, what can we do?"
with lost, we coulda had 2 seasons of mystery, and then a season going back in time showing the creation of the island if it's fake or whatever, and get into political intrigue, and interdisperse it with post-island looks at the characters.

whether it works or not, i prefer it to "hey look, a polar bear! (ok, we got them for 3 more seasons before we have to figure this thing out)"

oh, and i never watched lost ever, not a fan... but doctor who is a series based on storylines taking up from small to large groups of episodes, with different goals in each story and it's own world of recurring characters. it can last forever, even if a mystery arc only lasts between 1 and 13 episodes.

if the characters are compelling enough, they won't need to be lost on an island. saved by the bell left high school. at least they tried. although dragging the viewer on forever with no forseeable conclusion and lots of bewilderment is kinda what it'd be like to be on a deserted island, so kudos for that.
i think with battlestar they wanted to start it off with "holy cow this is insane!" and then they got the series, so they have to be a bit more reserved with goals.

[Dennis]

the answer is being well-plotted, and having a buncha clever guys get in a room and say "after we solve this thing, what can we do?"
with lost, we coulda had 2 seasons of mystery, and then a season going back in time showing the creation of the island if it's fake or whatever, and get into political intrigue, and interdisperse it with post-island looks at the characters.



lost is a totally unique show because it's based on one big central mystery, and that mystery is quite impenetrable so far. shows that can go on forever have a fairly generic concept, occupation shows (doctors lawyers cops) are an example of that. x-files is an occupation show, the mystery itself wasn't much of a mystery (government bad guys in conspiracy with aliens), viewers got the gist of it, they just didn't know all the details. so a show like veronica mars has episode length mysteries, and a season long mystery, but it's still an occupation show and nothing like Lost. Twin peaks is a soap opera which could have gone on forever. there have been bad storytelling decisions in lost, but doing that type of story seems far more challenging than the usual tv show. then again, i only watch 2 shows so perhaps it's not that unique after all.

[mattx110]

lost is a totally unique show because it's based on one big central mystery, and that mystery is quite impenetrable so far. shows that can go on forever have a fairly generic concept, occupation shows (doctors lawyers cops) are an example of that. x-files is an occupation show, the mystery itself wasn't much of a mystery (government bad guys in conspiracy with aliens), viewers got the gist of it, they just didn't know all the details. so a show like veronica mars has episode length mysteries, and a season long mystery, but it's still an occupation show and nothing like Lost. Twin peaks is a soap opera which could have gone on forever. there have been bad storytelling decisions in lost, but doing that type of story seems far more challenging than the usual tv show. then again, i only watch 2 shows so perhaps it's not that unique after all.

then this is a perfect time to pick up "the prisoner" dvds.
intrigue and mystery on an island. odder storytelling choices than ever before. everything form espionage thriller to psychological drama. you might enjoy it. it's not quite "lost on an island with polar bears and "tailies!"" but it's pretty good.