5 sci-fi and fantasy shows that disappointed fans

Lost

The pop-culture phenomenon Lost took the world by storm like nothing else. The desert island story is a not a new or original one but Damien Lindelof, JJ Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber developed a well-known story into something far more mysterious.

It was, allegedly, not by chance or accident that the characters of Lost arrived on the island and this deeper meaning kept many fans hooked all the way through its six seasons. However, what promised to be a satisfying finale turned out to be a weak conclusion, seemingly throwing away years of detail, inter-textual references and not delivering a gratifying backstory for the mystical island.

For a show which prided itself on giving back to those fans who raked through each frame to find the tiniest Easter egg, the last episode wasn’t received well. Even before the lackluster ending, Lost managed to lose many die-hard fans before the bitter end.

In the UK, the show was originally shown on Channel 4, only to be moved to Sky mid-way through, which meant the more casual viewer gave up watching. The show also began to go down a fantasy route, which clashed with its previous stance that everything has a real-world explanation.

Fans were understandably frustrated at Lindelof’s decision to take the ending in a more spiritual direction – instead of any solid answers (as were promised) the show focused instead on the idea of personal redemption. The characters were spiritually lost, rather than physically. Still, this vague conclusion has given rise to multiple fan theories and, nine years later, you can still find these alternative theories scattered across the internet. Even recently, the writers have discussed the alternative ending that might just have appeased the fan-base a little more.