LOST vs BSG

[SAUSAGEMAN]

I think its Veronica Mars, but not having seen the show I cant really say.

It is! Veronica Mars is an example of a very well structured show where the writers knew the ultimate outcome and adjusted the pacing and the introduction and solving of mysteries accordingly - kinda what I was hoping Lost would, so long ago.

 

[Cassie]

But Lost and Veronica Mars were totally different kinds of shows.

 

[SAUSAGEMAN]

Were they? If the Lost sci-fi and fantasy thing didn't really matter, then they were both shows about characters with long term mysteries! The difference, of course, is that the VM writers actually wrapped up their mysteries once in a while.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Some of the Lost mysteries were wrapped up.

 

[Cassie]

Veronica Mars was about solving criminal mysteries as an amateur private detective, I don't see how it can compare to Lost at all. Also there are only a few people who are saying the sci-fi/fantasy thing didn't matter, and I don't think they're saying it didn't matter at all, only that it doesn't have to be the main focus of the show.... EVEN THOUGH at times the mysterious things were what the show was about.

 

[SAUSAGEMAN]

Veronica Mars was about solving criminal mysteries as an amateur private detective, I don't see how it can compare to Lost at all. Also there are only a few people who are saying the sci-fi/fantasy thing didn't matter, and I don't think they're saying it didn't matter at all, only that it doesn't have to be the main focus of the show.... EVEN THOUGH at times the mysterious things were what the show was about.

It compares to Lost because both series were about the writers setting up some mysterious happenings, and the characters were trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
On Veronica Mars, the writers knew the answers to the questions when they posed them, which let to tight plotting and satisfying conclusions.
On Lost, the writers didn't know the answers, so they just kept piling the series with more and more mythological baggage to keep the audience's interest that could never be completely addressed in any coherent way.

I'm just basically saying Rob Thomas > Darlton.

 

[Further]

Another example of a show that handled its mysteries well was Babylon 5. Most mysteries were only held out for around a year before they were resolved and logical clues were laid out along the way so the eventual answer made sense looking back.

Most of the debate about Lost seems to be centered around the number of mysteries that were answered/unanswered. However, this tallying up of resolved mysteries is a misleading metric because on Lost often the resolution/answer made no sense.

Thus we get unsatisfying "answers" that bring up more questions that have no chance of getting resolved because the writers have already decided that the issue is closed. My favorite example is The Button, which eventually got an answer of "why it's there" but not "why anyone would be so stupid to set it up that way". An important distinction considering the entire second season was based on this plot hole. Some might consider that question answered but I would not.


As a side, another thing about Babylon 5 that was unique at least with the TV show's I've seen is the way it ended. Instead of saving up everything for the last minute and going out with a bang, it resolved most of the major plot threads several episodes before the finale, then used its remaining time to deal with the aftermath, tie up loose ends, and give the characters proper sendoffs. All at a realistic and satisfying pace. More shows should end like this.

 

[SAUSAGEMAN]

Someone on SA dug up quotes from Darlton that illustrate perfectly why some viewers might have been fooled into thinking that the writers knew what they were doing and had a grand plan to resolve everything, and weren't just ad hoc throwing shit at the Island and seeing what sticks.

"When the audience demands answers, we'll give them to them," he insists. "But I will say, as a viewer, sometimes people say they want something but they don't really want it

"Every mystery that we present on the show -- what is the monster, where does Ethan come from, why hasn't Claire had her baby yet -- all of those are questions that we know the answers to," asserts Lindelof. "But how and when we present the answers isn't set in stone."

Lindelof and Cuse say they've drawn a map to avoid such dead ends. "I liken it to taking a road trip from Los Angeles to New York. We know we're going to visit the Grand Canyon, we know we're going to stop in Omaha, we know we're going to Wall Drug in South Dakota. The route we take between these landmarks is what we make up as we go along," Cuse says. "And those landmarks are the answers to the mysteries."

It's not unreasonable to dislike the show because the creators outright lied to the audience.

 

[Conchaga]

And I just widened the gap. BSG, despite having literally lost their way around the end of the 2nd season and middle of the third, they still managed to make a show that was fun to watch, didn't explain everything outright, and revealed as much as the plot would allow over a (what appeared to be) calculated timeline. Lost started in what seemed to be one direction, then ended in another plane of existence. That's just frustrating, if you ask me. Also, they had so many plot threads they dropped the whole show resembled something like this at the end.

I don't want the whole thing dumbed-down and explained to me, but I like sci fi for the science AND the fiction. The background helps to make the story. There are also thousands of other geeks out there like me who are totally into the wacky science-y stuff. That techno-babble makes some shows really fun. Trek became too bogged down in it eventually. Which is why I'm glad Abrams took Trek the way he did. However, for a show like LOST, it's VERY unlikely that there'll be spinoffs with the same caliber of sci-fi/fantasy background.

That is, if they stick to making shows about James and Miles.

 

[Cassie]

I didn't think Veronica Mars was better than Lost, sorry.

 

[Tisiphone]

I could never get into Veronica Mars.