tempestuously | ITP: Unpopular Opinions about LOST

I am torn. While I totally slash the island powers and love their characterization to pieces -- I'm guessing Jacob is supposed to be some sort of angel since he can grant immortality but can't resurrect or absolve sins -- this is not really LOST anymore. Lost was about people lost on an island, learning truths about themselves and each other. I liked this. I liked watching characters grow as they explored more about the island and its supernatural powers. And I get that Lost had to explain why the island was supernatural. I do understand that. BUT the idea that this entire time the characters were being used as pieces in a massive chess game between the island powers is lame. Foreshadowed since episode one, sure. "One is white and the other is black." But lame. I have huge issues with agency and when I feel characters are being deprived of it after years of development, I get testy. This is very true with Sayid, Claire (well not so much since she didn't really develop) and Locke. They still haven't explained how the "Devil" (I will call Smokey this since it makes things simple) takes bodies by the way, although I do assume he took on Isabela's form before Richard. But yeah, I feel that all the development the characters went through is not as important since they are ultimately being played to see who can resist the "Devil"'s influence.

It's a tough call because I love the plot, but it feels like it belongs to some other series and not the Lost I've grown to love like a pair of well-worn shoes. I hope more attention is paid to the characters as they make their decisions on where they stand and that these decisions are heavily based on their development. Also, this makes the flash-sideways seem pretty superfluous. What is their point? Are they just crazy AU fanfic? I think this may be another one of those series where the end will decide how I feel toward it overall.

That said, why does the "Devil" have to be so hot? And lol way to do your Supernatural shout-out, Lost.