Comments on: Overthinking Lost: Episodes 1.0-1.7

By: Jayemel

Jayemel — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:47:26 +0000

(I’m going to respond to your posts as if I am watching at the same time as you, spoiler free, but have seen all of the series so far.)

Your analysis if LOST in regards to Lord of the Flies is great, especially because of the way you transition it into a discussion of philosophers.

Jack as Hobbes and Locke as, well, Locke is also quite insightful. However, I wonder if you are overlooking a vast majority of philosophy by dismissing the “villians” on the beach and stating Jack is the mouthpiece of the writers. Those characters living on the beach are the ones not connected to reality? Jack was the one who followed his dead father into the caves. Also, the live together, die alone speech seems awfully satirical.

Yes, Hobbes and Locke are major influence on American philosophical thought, but what about the rest of us? Consider that the characters didn’t choose between the caves and the jungle. They chose between the caves and the beach. Is there another important philosophy that is represented by the beach? Are the writers trying to say something about Locke’s philosophy?

By: mlawski

mlawski — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:57:04 +0000

@Lanson and the rest who caught my “amputee” faux pas: I know, and I’m sorry. The picture quality in Locke’s first flashback episode was awful, so I couldn’t tell if he had legs or not. Plus for whatever reason, my brain tells me someone called him an amputee at some point. Consider me schooled.

By: Lanson

Lanson — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:54:12 +0000

Great article! I look forward to reading more. One small point though, Locke is paralyzed, not an amputee.

By: Whiskey Jim

Whiskey Jim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:52:02 +0000

Making notes as you watch LOST is a great idea because of the unusual manner in which it unfolds in flashbacks and partially told stories.

It will be great fun for you to revisit these posts as you wrestle through the series. Plus, I believe watching LOST in great chunks as opposed to hitting it week after week year after year gives one an advantage; the subtleties of the writing are still fresh in your mind.

And believe me, there is a great deal of subtlety in the writing that you can only pick up as you go along; another reason to post as you go.

By: mlawski

mlawski — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:38:37 +0000

@Foo: I’m going to try my best to have a post up once a week. It just depends on my real life schedule :)

As for suspending disbelief, I’m with Gab. Once the first episode had polar bears, I knew this show was operating under a different system of rules than the real world. As long as the show is internally consistent, I’ll be fine.

By: Gab

Gab — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:43:04 +0000

You know, about “suspending disbelief” with regards to _Lost_: I think once I realized what (although not quite why) was going on with Locke’s legs, I came to the conclusion that there is just too much freaky stuff going on to easily hold onto reality all that much if I want to have a good time. I sort of let go. Once I did that, it became even easier to enjoy the show. Plus, that made getting through some of the periods of lower quality an easier endeavor.

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:04:38 +0000

I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it already but Locke’s legs were paralyzed, he’s not an amputee.

Great review otherwise, I have a feeling you’re going to love certain upcoming scenes based on what you’ve written here.

Hope you stick with the show too, it does push you to your limits in terms of suspending disbelief.

By: Foo

Foo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:05:29 +0000

I had a link to the ovethinkingit site emailed to me for the Doctor Who content. I stumbled across your Lost analysis and am really looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of series one (and two through five).

Keep it up! Do you plan to post once a week or does putting each post together take a bit longer?

By: Aimee

Aimee — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:30:35 +0000

I hope you keep doing these. Then I can just read this, and not give the rest of my life to a show that seems to be composed entirely of cliffhangers.

By: mlawski

mlawski — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:03:39 +0000

@Tom P: Ack, you’re right! But I can justify it by saying I’m taking a side… for now. When there’s more evidence that everything that’s happening is fated, I’ll move to the other side. Although I guess even the fact that I’m asking for empirical evidence points to my rationalist biases.