NY Times Article - In ‘Lost,’ Mythology Trumps Mystery

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Glad to see I'm not missing anything ... I stopped watching somewhere during Season 4 when it turned too 'weird' and SciFi-that-doesn't-want-to-be-called-that-ish!

 

I am confused on why people think Dharma was so important to the overall storyline. I view it as more of a setting that painted in a few more interesting properties about the island and illuminated some things rather than something that was so integral to the plot. Dharma never really was, in my opinion, a major player (if a non-entity can be a player) in the overall story.

And, sad to say, not everybody buys into fantasy, so I don't blame the show for trying to conceal some of the more fantastical parts until the end. It's been an interesting fusion of sci-fi / fantasy / parable / mythology put to high blend.

 

Hmm... Starting with the discovery of the hatch in season 1, season 2 - 5 were almost exclusively based on Dharma. Who are the others, why they were on the island, why there was all these stations, the other island with more dharma related stuff, etc... Back stories of dharma doing baby studies on the island, air drops, button pushing, incident, etc... The fact is pretty much 70% of the shows episodes were FULLY based on or around the Dhrama people. Many of the myths, questions, people were all dharma involved.

Yeah. Why would that matter or be so important to the overall story that was JUST introduced pretty much in the past 10 episodes? (Outside of a character we never saw and had very few mentions of through season 2-5)

 

But, we've seen the back story to all of the Dharma stuff, it's not a mystery anymore, they're a piece of the puzzle, but not the whole picture. It was a necessary part of the story, but now we're onto another part.

 

Let me try to explain Dharma's significance for some people.

The seasons of Lost are like an onion being peeled, revealing bigger pieces of an overarching mystery/story.

First we had the Lost crew crashing and experiencing mysterious occurrences on this strange island. We then found out that many of those mysteries were wrapped up in the existence and actions of the Others, and got a smattering of answers (and more questions) about that. We then found out that the Others' actions were at least partly wrapped up with Dharma, who among other things had figured out how to time travel (time travel!!!), and got a smattering of answers (and more questions) about that.

So after peeling the onion back for some 5 seasons, it seemed to many that the peeling onion led to an outer layer of Dharma, and that there had to be some higher (or at least bigger and overarching) purpose behind Dharma. Also, don't "misunderestimate" that despite the fact that Dharma was purged from the island by the Others in the 1980s, the average (confused) viewer knows that much of what the characters dealt with on the island - the hatches, stations, etc. - were Dharma things, and simply associates the island's mysteries with Dharma.

Season 5 ended with the Incident, with the Losties throwing a monkey wrench into Dharma's works by exploding the nuclear bomb. But there was little reason to think that meant the end of Dharma - international cabals as grand as Dharma don't just go away. Many expected the final season to allow them to bite into the onion of the mystery of this international cabal, and find the sweet taste of Dharma mysteries being explained that had been left lying along the path in the Lost orchard.

Instead though, almost all the action and screentime this season has been devoted to a virtually brand new storyline featuring God (Jacob) vs. Satan (MIB). We know now that this Jacob/MIB story is at the outer layer of the onion. Meaning it has more or less acted as a complete substitute for the prior Dharma and Others elements that had previously seemed to be at the outer layer of the onion.

There may still get be some Dharma flavor in the finale, but many viewers would have found the taste a lot more delicious if they had been allowed to savor it all season long, rather than in one bite in the finale.

 

Reason 101 not to read the once great (well, so they claim) NY Times.

Shucks, I enjoy reading well conceived mystery fiction where there are several red herrings and false leads that turn out to be dead ends. I also love reading well done SF where there is a rich background fabric of technology or society, one not necessarily integral to the plot or character developments but where the depiction makes the total experience richer. Thoughtfull, rich and varied substories, detailed background and mythology, some mysteries answered, some still ambiguiously mysterious and still appealing to an imaginative sense of wonder is why I've enjoyed every LOST season without regret.

And yes, I've had critical comments on some episodes, including the Jacob/MiB season 6 episode. Very little ALWAYS matches exactly what you the reader/viewer wish would have been done.

 

Well stated cogent criticism.

 

Try this LOST recap of Seasons 1 - 5 from YouTube.
Otherwise, there will be a recap episode on Sunday just before the Finale.

 

funny how the overriding complaint of lost was "too slow, not enough answers", and now it's "feels rushed"

 

He's looking for a summary of Season 6, so he can decide if he wants to watch it.

 

That's why I added the bit about the recap just before the Finale. He could watch that, then TiVO the Finale and decide if it's worth his time later.

 

Thanks for the pointer. Yeah, I think I'll watch the youtube recap for season 1-5 (it's only 8 minutes), then watch the 2-hour Sunday broadcast recap. That should spoil season 6 enough to let me decide whether to watch season 6 or not. As I said, I've got all of season 6 on a Tivo (16 hours so far, I think), plus my SP is set to record the 2hr recap and 2.5hr finale Sunday.