Aristotle Talks Shit on Lost

In studying to write for screenplays, I’ve been directed by Lew Hunter’s book to read Poetics by Aristotle. I recommend it as well.

One funny tidbit was in a section entitled “Defective Plots.”

“Of simple plots and actions, the episodic ones are the worst. By an episodic plot I mean one in which the sequence of episodes is neither necessary nor probable. Second-rate poets compose plots of this kind of their own accord; good poets do so on account of the actors – in writing pieces for competitive display they draw out the plot beyond its potential, and are often forced to distort the sequence.”

That sure sounds like Lost to me.

by