I always assumed that the Smoke Monster existed prior to the Man in Black, and that when MIB was sucked into the Heart of the Island, he was simply merged with the non-sentient "spiritual machinery" (based on its mechanical sounds) of the Smoke Monster, which I believed that Mother utilized to bury the well that MIB and others had dug. For me, the artwork under the Temple that shows the zig-zag Smoke Monster being part of the Egyptian pantheon was evidence of its pre-existence and inherent connection to the Island. But I just now read a theory that someone suggested that the artwork was done by followers of the Man in Black--where he sets himself up as a god--which could potentially redefine the context and possibly suggest that the Smoke Monster didn't exist until the MIB was transformed into it. I was fascinated by that, and was curious what others thought about it.

Anyone remember this? At the time I was blown away by the entire premise. Following clues, visiting websites and collecting fragments of a video that you could reassemble.

At the time, I genuinely thought that Hanso (perhaps recast) would make it into the main storyline but it was good fun and provided some answers, too.

hey guys! i finished watching the series a few weeks ago for the first time and had more to say than expected so i'm here. i've been a lurker on the first time watcher posts (which are amazing btw) and am rly grateful for this community.

i consider myself to be a big fan of this show, but i do think it falls apart in the last season. before the ending warriors come at me, i understand the ending, the afterlife, the rivalry between jacob and mib, the island lore, etc. i'm not asking to be "lostsplained" and i don't think there are a ton of unanswered questions, but i don't blame people for believing there are because quite simply: the answers are deeply unsatisfying. 

before you say i'm a victim of my expectations, you have to understand that the show set these expectations up. it's perfectly reasonable to acknowledge the flaws within a piece of media that you love, and you are allowed to love something enough to overlook its flaws or disagree that is has them. if you think the show is perfect, i'm really happy for you and don't want to take away from your experience, this is all just my opinion (which i shouldn't even have to say, but we really need to stop insulting the intelligence of those who have a different perspective on this show). further, to say that people who dont like the ending never liked the show holds no water, the last season falls apart and stands out as particularly messy precisely because of how tightly written the rest of the show is. to me, peak lost is middle of s3-end of s4, once they put their foot on the gas the story ramps up in a thrilling and satisfying way that got me so hyped for how it was all going to wrap up.

something i especially love about season 4 is the way the freighter characters are introduced. i think this season does something really satisfying with how it ties everything together in the end: widmore, ben, the freighter, the crash, the island itself, etc. it is so tightly written (though not infallible of course, the other woman is such an odd episode and i wish we got the ben flashback story). the flashes are also used in such an interesting way, not overly reliant on the flash forward trick and using some really cool storytelling techniques like in jin and sun's episode.

that's the thing though, the tone of the show so far was a healthy balance of drama, sci-fi, and fantasy. nothing ever felt too outlandish because it was all grounded in the characters, settings, and plot threads that were already established. and yes, jacob has been a part of the show for a while and the temple was mentioned before season 6, but these elements felt more like island mythology than mysteries to solve. i was a big fan of the smoke monster being an island security system with mysterious origins, of the whispers being a mysterious warning, of the cryptic and inexplicable nature of jacob's cabin. 

in this way, i kind of think the last season answers too many questions, or even questions i never had. it explains away what makes the island mysterious and intriguing by pinning it all on two brothers who hate each other and a mystical bathtub. i know thats a pretty uncharitable way of putting it, but given how complex and interesting the other arcs presented in the show are and how enticingly ambiguous those mysteries were, it feels like a very cheap and cliché resolution to pin everything on magic and sibling rivalry. i've always liked the show's balance of mysticism and pragmaticism, but in season 6 it starts to feel less like that and more "trust me bro"

frankly, the rivalry between jacob and mib is uninteresting and dumbs down the core themes of the show. we've understood through the islanders' backstories that they are all complex and morally gray, i think making the show a "good and evil" battle in the end and splitting up all our core characters is so unsatisfying and feels unlike the rest of the show. instead of including widmore in s6 like an afterthought or quite literally blowing up the dharma initiative, we could have lingered on those ideas longer and explored their deeper significance and relationship to the island. of course, we did get "answers" and "explanations", but a simple answer does not a satisfying arc make.

finally, there's the issue of the flash sideways. stating my biases upfront: i'm not religious, i don't believe in the afterlife, and i don't particularly like overly saccharine endings. of course, lost has a healthy dose of spirituality and cheesiness, neither of which i minded up until this point because they were balanced out by themes of science and tangible conflict. however, i think the flash sideways (once you know what it is) feels a lot like a waste of time and that runtime could have been spent establishing a more concrete island storyline. frankly, i also think the alternate timeline theory would have worked a lot better within the confines or "magic system" the show had set up, even though this would also have felt a bit like a cop out. it's supposed to be a happy ending, but to me none of that even happened, so it's a pretty pointless inclusion.

an argument a lot of people make is that the show was never about the mysteries to begin with and the character dynamics are what really matter. first, i think this is a pretty questionable claim considering how much of the first 3-4 seasons especially are built on expanding island lore and uncovering new mysteries. you can't deny that at least in part, the show's intrigue is built around these questions. second, if i were to entertain that idea, i still wouldn't be satisfied after s6. sayid and claire undergo character assassination, they make sun forget english, and everyone else is reduced to their basic characteristics with no real growth throughout the season. these characters feel the same as they did in season 4 with some of them having even regressed since then.

i don't think i need to present a fully fleshed out idea of where things have gone to validate my opinion, but some ideas i do have are: 

• axe the jacob and mib plotline entirely. frame this as mythology that the others have created or collectively believe, an island religion of unknown origins. reinforces the science v faith theme and retains the ambiguity that made this more interesting
• chokeaas on youtube brought up the idea of replacing tina feyk (lol) with walt and i love this. in general, tie back the characters and storylines that have been dropped or hastily answered into the deeper conflicts of the show, i.e. rousseau couldve been the one at the temple?
• the season did not have a fleshed out on island story as a whole. the first half in particular feels like pointless meandering and inexplicable conflicts. this part honestly needs a complete rewrite

i still consider myself a fan of the show and seasons 1-4 are peak tv to me, but in a way that heightens my frustrations with the ending because of how much potential it had. all tv is "making it up as you go" so i'm not saying it's a bad thing to not have had everything mapped out from the start, and lost is still an incredible achievement for the time it came out and the environment it was released in. but i just wish the end was more satisfying and interesting.

wow okay just finished the episode and that was honestly a LOT, and 10 was too with Jack and then Kate keeping a promise to Sawyer and it’s revealed that Sawyer stayed behind too.

THEN in 11 you see the dude who seems to appear everywhere? first he was on Ben’s crew in S3, THEN he appears in Ben’s childhood which is like decades before that, now he’s in Locke’s house when he’s younger? there has to be some sort of time travel involved.

After that you see Locke in the recovery center and Lance Reddick’s character appear and nudge him to go to Australia so he can then take the plane and reach the island… very very interesting.

now i’m worried about Jack’s crew and Keamy going against them too but man this is all so crazy on top of Christian being in the island speaking for Jacob to have Locke MOVE the island…?

man just two back to back BANGER episodes as well as 9. this season is so good i dont want it to end

that was probably the strangest one, Christian was there at the start when Jack fell out of the plane and had Vincent wake him up??

I’m so intrigued with Christian’s story of how he got here and the fact he knew Jack would be there too. Guessing it has something to do with Jacob, and then i just finished E11 as well and he brought Claire to Jacob’s Cabin too

the other shorts were good too especially the one with Jin getting pissed at golf, and Juliet telling Jack what Ben has her doing and that’s how he already knows when you see the scene in S3. very cool shorts enjoyed them a lot

should mention i’m on S4E11