Six Feet Under being an exceptional exception to that rule.

I just rewatched that last week and cried by fucking eyes out. Such a perfect ending.

Season 1-5, yes, but season 6 has relegated Jack to nothing more than a tertiary character. Hell, Hurly has had more screen time this season.

Something tells me that Jack's status will be redeemed by the end. I think that they have diminished attention on him up until now for a reason.

Which was my ultimate point. It seems this entire season rides on the finale and serves little purpose up until then.

The only problem I have with this season is Flocke's hesitation to get the hell off of the island. He has time to sit around and widdle sticks and such while he has been wanting off the island for thousands? of years. My only guess is that he has to eliminate ALL of the Losties by deception and their own doing before he is actually free to go. So he has some masterplan in place to do away with all of them and then wreak havoc on the outside world or return to his domain. Sounds like we need Tenacious D to make a cameo.

Personally I hope they do end the series with some ambiguity. I hate it when everything is spoon-fed to us.

Did all the events on the island really happen? Was it all a dream? Were they all inmates in an insane asylum and this was conjured up in their imagination? Did it all occur in a parallel universe? Were they time-shifting between present and future events? Did they all die in the plane crash? etc....

This would all spark endless debate as to what really happened.

This brings to mind the following:

1) The abrupt ending on the Sopranos. Was Tony whacked or lived on?

2) The ending to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

3) The ending to Descent.

etc...

Just my two cents worth.

Since "retcon" is a comic book term (and those can be "never ending") then it IS an accurate word to use.

For example, the Black Rock "explanation" has caused people in threads to try to make up reasons an ocean could go from bright sunny skies to storming tsunami-level waves in an instant. When the easier explanation is that the writers changed their minds and tried to make it "fit". Same with the smoke monster. There is no way that what it is now is what it was from the beginning. This season is the first time it's actually started behaving the way they "explained" its behavior. Which is awfully convenient.

I actually don't have a problem with shows making and changing things up as they go along. That's certainly an acceptable way to tell stories. And some of my favorite shows follow this format. But the fact that the creators have milked this idea that they have this big plan (including saying they would never do time travel...until they did) and people have wasted infinite amounts of time analyzing the smallest details, like EVERYTHING has importance, bugs me to no end.

The creators and writers of LOST haven't earned that kind of "awe" over their creation. I truly feel they are throwing everything they can in, even if it doesn't really hold up, to make it seem like it's all coming together and they'll be hailed as geniuses in the end. I don't buy that act.

Word. That ending was epic.

You know what's even scarier Mike? Just think about the reverse...that the ENTIRE SERIES up until this season served little point.

That's not the reverse. That's expanding upon his initial point, but it's not the reverse. The reverse would be that the entire season doesn't ride upon the finale and serves a great purpose up until then, which is nullified by the finale.

Nope. His point is that the all of season 6 doesn't matter except the finale. Mine was that it could be that season 6 is the ONLY thing that matters. It's the reverse, or at least much closer to the reverse than whatever it is you are attempting to describe.

Isn't that what Jenna on 30 Rock revealed. There is no way they would get away with something like that.

Not exactly. I'm saying nothing really matters in s.6 until we see how things play out those final three hours and in the grand scheme of things. It may effectively change how we view the first 14 hours. I'm not saying s6 is pointless aside from the finale.

Think of a scenario where it would be best to watch the show from s1-s5 then watch the s6 finale then watch the rest of season 6. They have effectively muddied the water so bad this season that it's hard to root or care for anyone. By seeing the finale we will know who to like, dislike, their motives, etc. and then we can see how that plays during those first 14 episodes.

Oh, and DarkestPhoenix had it right.

Fine, then just take my comment independent of yours...and recognize the possibility that S6 could be all that really matters in the grand scheme of the show. That would be disappointing, no?

All of the seasons have mattered as we've been introduced to some great characters each and every season.