TVSquad

While there were a couple of tidbits worth noting, for the Lost fan who has seen all the episodes before, I suggest you pass.

For the newb, Isabelle makes a good point: there are SO many text interruptions you'll have a hard time watching both.

My primary concern was the tone of the text. I love snark, but this was downright insulting at times, regularly dipping into the level of "here is what you are currently seeing right now."

Why make fun of the show? Why introduce such attitude? It took a lot away from the seriousness of the situation. Notes like "There's a party on the beach and Hurley brought the beer!" is like MST3K-- which was reserved for BAD cinema.

And not to say Lost fans, by and large, are of a certain caliber, but... how many people don't know Lewis Carroll wrote "Through the Looking-Glass"??? How many people couldn't tell Sawyer is sipping a beer? Apparently JJ and crew think we're too dumb to figure it out...

Do yourself a favor and record this for the little promos for Sawyer, Locke, etc., read the dissections online, and just watch the DVD versions sans commercials. We started 15 minutes into the show (after getting ill from the tripe) and wound up still catching the last 30 minutes of the broadcast. Just horrible.

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Is de-enhanced a word because that what those pop-up did.

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I agree that the tone of the pop-ups was at odds with the tone of the show -- and too distracting.

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was this written by non-union labor, or has the popup-video episode been planned for a while?

I watched it, and it definitely gave me a few ideas to think about for the new season that I hadn't really considered last spring. Also, if there's a new Lost Death Pool, I'm still in for Jin being the first to go since he was the most recent DUI.

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WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!!!

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Annoying.

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Where to begin..

The enhanced deal was terrible. Just plain awful. I was excited about watching it with my wife, who had to miss the entire second half of season 3 last year, and we had spent the last few weeks catching her up.

Rather than watching a DVD or online version of the finale, we figured we'd just tune in tonight and she'd see the last two pieces of the puzzle before season 4 starts.

And then, within the first 10 seconds, they ruined all two hours of the finale, with the simple line "this is a flash forward" as Jack sits on the plane. Boom. Zap. Flash

Just like that, the extended flash (forward, but you're supposed to be guessing) that runs through both episodes was completely ruined for my wife. I had been dying to see her face when she realizes as Kate steps out of the car that it was a freaking flash forward, not a flashback!

The comments sounded like they were written by a 3 year old, were incredibly simplistic, not that much help to someone who hadn't seen the show much, and COMPLETELY out of sync with the spirit of the show. It should be instructive that the writers and producers had absolutely nothing to do with this enhanced version due to the strike. It was done entirely by the same company that produces the awful clip shows to beat you over the head with what you should have figured out for yourself.

So the enhanced version? Two big fat thumbs down. Just a gross miscalculation, poorly executed, terribly conceived.

Oh i forgot to mention that after the first 30 seconds, we put up a piece of posterboard over the TV for the next two hours so we didn't have to see any more of it.

Is that really what ABC wants? People covering up a 1/3 of their TV screen?

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Oh and in case it wasn't clear, the actual writers, producers, and actors on the show had absolutely nothing to do with this fiasco. You'd probably hear Abrams and Lindelof and Co. complaining at the top of their lungs about the rape of their show, except they're not doing any interviews whatsoever due to the strike, of course.

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so comically bad and cheesy and distracting. what in the hell were they thinking? totally ruined it. glad i saw it last year. i turned it off. painful.

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FWIW, I didn't think it was as 'awful' as some people before me did - I lump it more into the category of 'unnecessary', with just a hint of 'annoying'.

Not worth breaking out a piece of posterboard, however. Besides, I don't have one large enough for my Sony Bravia anyway. ;D

"Fun facts" aside, the ep was as good as I remember it from when I first saw it. I even got choked up *again* when Charlie bit it.

Great stuff, can't wait until tomorrow!!!

Oops, I mean later tonight!

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im usually the only person in a room voting for the CC on because im usually pretty good about reading and watching something at the same time. but this 'pop up' text was easy to forget and didnt provide much insight. i was planning to rewatch the episodes anyway so atleast i got to do it in hd. all it did was gear me up for tomorrow.

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I thought it was fine. I actually liked the snark, but that's just who I am. Plus *I* didn't need to watch the episode since I've seen it like four times since it originally aired.

Then again since I tuned in four minutes in, I wasn't aware of the fact that they told the audience that it was a flash forward. I don't think that was good idea. Other than that, it was fine.

All I know is I'm VERY very excited for the premiere. Who's with me?

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For the most part I thought it was completely worthless...but I will give it to ABC, they got me to watch all two hours again. Since that was their real intention all along I’m guessing this fact filled repeat was a success.

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It was extremely distracting, with very useless facts that basically narrated what was going on in the scene.

One of the most annoying things was the fact that the black and white strip was always located at the bottom of the screen even when 'fun facts' were not being displayed.

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I would consider one of those nutty lost geeks, and i can say that i appreciated having the opportunity to watch an episode, especially one as pivotal as this (as long as you didn't pay attention to the cc). I almost forgot the yearning i had many months ago when an approaching wednesday would make my heart skip. Say what you will about the tid bits that dotted the screen, Lost is Lost and with no repeats ever shown, i am thankful.


However..... Who in their right bloody drunken donkey copulating rape fest would ever disrespect a show like this?! mentioning the fast forward at the beginning of the show?! WHAT?! anyone who has even read about this episode when it aired would know that this was the episode that changed three years of television broadcast in the making. and the anti-depressant addicts who scribbled with their feces all over it decided that it would be in the best interest of the viewer to ruin this discovery. You might as well give me a spoonful of herpes. This was the reason for the episode. this was the point. and it was taken away. this show demands respect, and respect for the story line is what keeps (rude) fans like me yearning for more.

how about the utterly useless "yes you are in fact seeing jack run. see jack run." can the faux-writers at least assume that i can understand what i'm watching. i was led to believe that interesting facts would be posted. not commentary that skips at least minor analysis. gees, at least the production company got my emotions moving before the true show starts.

But, even with my almost unnecessary comments, i am happy that something about lost in on air. it was an awesome episode, and in the process got three more people hooked on it. when one episode gets someone to beg me to borrow season 1 so they can start from the beginning, i can't help by shed a happy tear. criticism requires something to critic and even through clenched teeth, i still appreciate it.

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If you love the show you already have all 3 seasons on DVD anyways. For those that like the show and either missed the season finale last time or just wanted to re-watch it so they can recall key moments, then yes it was distracting. I don't know about anyone else but I re-watched all 3 seasons on DVD, and timed it so that I actually saw season 3's season finale today, on DVD. I re-watched it again on television just to watch the enchanced episode. What ABC should have done is air the finale tonight, so that everyone who haden't seen it yet can watch it, then on the season premire night, do a special that gives insight into the key plot developments that were set up in season three and any previous season that will be important for season 4.

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Just pathetic. While I love the creative idea of putting poster board across the bottom of the screen, my solution was a little more simple. The off button.

I watched in shock, which latter turned to anger, as frivolous trite popped up in annoying fashion. If the pop ups were laced with previously unknown facts/concepts/revelations, then perhaps it might have worked. But noooooo. We get third grade comments from donkey writers that just ruined an otherwise quality show. It was perhaps the most annoying thing I have ever seen on TV and ABC and those responsible should be deeply ashamed.

I will be very interested to know how the Writers Guild, Screen Actors Guild and Director's Guild will view the butchering of tonight's episode. I would imagine they will be having an interesting chat with the ABC execs tomorrow. Maybe they can bring a pop up chart to help explain the carnage of creative rights.

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Does anyone know who wrote those things? It surely couldn't have been the writers due to the strike (and the amatuerity of it), right?
It felt like a bunch of "suits" hired somebody's nephew who barely watches the show or knows anyone who does. Jaters and Skates? Who watches Lost for that kind of stuff?

On the other hand. I'm not 100% sure I would have rewatched the episode if not for this gimmick, which is what it was, but I did, and disappointing as the marketing gimmick was, I'm fired up to watch tonight. So, I guess it's kind of amateur as a TV watcher to complain about a gimmick. It's up to us to seperate the actual work of art from the advertisements and marketing initiatives supporting it.

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I agree with most of the comments above. I had it on, even though I just re-watched the finale a few days ago from my TiVo. The "facts" were useless and insulting to anyone who's already been watching. To anyone who hasn't, the text ruined any dramatic scene and stripped the finale of all its impact. So what was the point? Too bad they didn't do a REAL "pop-up video" thing, which at least could've been more entertaining. And yes, they were written by non-union people (whom I hesitate to even call "writers"--I doubt that's their main profession.)

Also, is anyone else infuriated at all the ads for the "2-hour event" for the premiere, that make no mention of the fact that the first hour is a clip show, and there's only ONE hour of new material? I know they've done it before, but it still annoys me and it's just plain false advertising--LYING.

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See I missed the first 30 seconds or so of the episode last night so when I did flip over it was at the point that Jack was ripping the obit out of the newspaper. I didn't know that they said straight out, "this is a flash forward". That's extremely idiotic.

I have called out this episode for the simple fact that when Jack is fighting with the chief of surgery he yells to go get his father and bring him down and if Jack is more drunk than his dad to fire him.(Notice that there wasn't a single pop-up during that portion of the fight) I think this is a completely unfair head-fake. I caught the Hoffs-Drawlor thing the first time I saw the name; being an avid Lost watcher I look for anagrams. Then combined with the KRZR which is a phone that would not have been available until after they were on the island it said to me hey this is a future episode. So when we see that head-fake it was just to make people who had come along uncertain so that when Kate drives up it's a surprise.

At the end of the episode I understood why they had to cheat. They wanted everyone on the same page for one of the biggest swerves in an American Television Series ever. They wanted everyone to kind of slowly freak out all at the same time. So to cheat everyone involved out of this experience is ridiculous. Give the newbies a chance, would it have been so hard to say for the opening... "This is a Flash... This is how we see the survivor's lives off the island at different times." Then later when he goes into the funeral parlor, "The show likes to use anagrams to convey secret messages on occasion." Newbies wouldn't expect that and both are fair since they don't signify anything which is untrue.

I didn't like the tone or attitude exhibited, and I hate that they ruined the ride for newbies. At the end of the day I'd have just preferred to watch the episode again on ABC.com or a straight up rerun.

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