I do love this show (have loved it). michel is a big fan too, or he wouldn't be posting on it. But the writers are human, and sometimes a fan loses faith in them, and that is not a betrayal.

I have watched every episode and I own all five seasons in DVD, although I haven't actually opened the box after buying Season 5. I'm a huge LOST fan, spent my time on Oahu a few years ago visiting as many shooting locations as I could.

BUT I find myself not caring about what is going on with the Flash Sideways or the battle on the island. This is a very chaotic, fragmented season with respect to the island life, and they are pulling out some hackneyed stories for the FS.

I also feel like they're using the fact they have a huge fan base as a way to get away with stuff that isn't really thought out very much. All they have to do is mix and match people in LA 2004 and throw in some moments of breakthrough almost memory to get people excited. Change things up a little bit.

Meanwhile, on the island, way too many new characters who turned out to be little more than red shirts. Ilana is a boring character. I know nothing about her. Or Zoe. I don't like it when I don't know why I should care. In Season 4, they did good by giving the freighter folks a flashback almost right away, which gave them some solidity. Daniel and Miles, in particular, became very enjoyable characters.

They have all these new characters. Meanwhile there are still red shirt 815 survivors and Ajira survivors who knows where. Surely there are Others and people who followed Richard who are out there somewhere. Plus the Temple folks, some dead. Then there are main characters that I can barely keep track of their whereabouts - who is with Jack, who is with FLocke, who is on Hydra, who is just out in the jungle expressing rebellion. Is anyone still at the statue? I don't know which beach is which any more.

I used to know who was in the beach camp (or Hatch, or caves), and then there was the Other's camp. OK, and Richard and his people. And Danielle. That was enough. It was a nice polarity. Now it's just scattered.

Now I realize that I could straighten all this out if I rewatched Season 6 to date, but I don't want to. I shouldn't need to.

I think it's going to get worse before it resolves. Oh, and I think the wine bottle/cork metaphor is stupid.

btw, the writers have admitted they had NO idea who the smoke monster was for quite a long time, that it was a fluid concept. It has not always been MIB.