Clozapine for everyone!

One of the little-known benefits to procrastination is that you can watch your favorite tv shows in large chunks instead of one at a time. Today I finally felt like catching up on the four "Lost" episodes clogging up the Ti-faux after weeks of just not being in the mood for yet more layers upon layers of Dharma-brand bullshit, served with a light coating of Omigod, Like Who Does Kate Like This Week?

++++Totally Unnecessary Spoiler Space Out Of Sheer Habit++++




Allright, so obviously if this is all Happening in Hurley's Head (HHH), then the writers have been flagrantly cheating from the get-go, since we have seen umpteen scenes, both on the island and in backstory, about things that Hurley obviously could have neither any knowledge of nor interest in. This obviousness is, however, not enough to convince me that the HHH explanation will not turn out to be at least partially true, since this type of cheating with regard to point of view is distressingly common nowadays. Having a consistent point of view is one of the hardest things to do if you only write for television or the movies without having a background in fiction writing. Because, of course, you're writing more directly for the audience in those mediums (as opposed to in service to your story), and the omnipotent point-of-view of the audience itself tends to bleed over onto the characters. Not that I'm being all holier-than-thou about it, since I love a little p.o.v. cheating as much as the next gal, and I love it for the same reason writers love it -- because it works. Hell, there isn't an episode of "24" that doesn't feature at least one character in possession of knowledge that they actually could have no way of knowing but in fact only know because we, the audience, know it and it would be tedious for us to remember that they didn't until they caught up. And I canNOT stop watching that show to save my life. Hey, it's not tedious! So, a little p.o.v cheating, a leeetle slide over into imaginary omnipotent narrator world, I can get behind that. But if the writers of "Lost" wind up lending any credence to the HHH explanation for these island shenanigans, that's more than just a little cheating, that's cheating on a "What, this ace? The one that totally did not just fall out of my sleeve?" scale and that would not be cool. As L. put it, the HHH scenario only works if Hurley turns out to have been a writer for "Lost" before he got committed to the nuthatch. In which case, have at it, I guess -- as long as at least one of the actual "Lost" writers is eventually institutionalized to provide the appropriate gravitas. Hey, I don't ask for much. And at the rate JJ Abrams is going Tom Cruise will drive him to the looney bin before "MI:3" is released, so there you go.