Complainer is not saying it wasn't surprising, he's saying that he's disappointed in the writers going on the fly rather than showing they had a plan all along. Surprises without foreshadowing are less effective than an underlying plot twist that has been lingering, with evidence, but not revealed.I believe that is his point, and to a certain extent, I agree.
Isn't Boone and Locke finding the hatch foreshadowing that the island was inhabited by someone in modern society? That was pretty much found early on and I honestly thought the whole opening the hatch at the end of season 1/beginning of season 2 was pretty awesome. I don't know how they could have introduced Desmond in any other way as linked somehow to the hatch without ruining the discovery. How would showing Desmond crash on the island in the race make the hatch opening more surprising? Showing him on the boat crashing would be the only way to foreshadow him being in the hatch, correct?I also don't know how Complainer (I like that) can say that he doesn't think that there is a plan and that everything is made up on the fly. I am 100% sure that the writers did not have every nook and cranny of every episode worked out, but to think that a master plan like what was in the hatch etc., was made up was silly.Here is the perfect point for that. We found out in one of the first couple episodes that Sayid noted that the compass was wrong, thus we were told that EM would be very important and it ends up that that is what brought the plane down. Isn't that the subtle foreshadowing that Complainer is complaining wasn't there? Shouldn't he, since he got every other surprise, have figured out from Sayid's comments about the compass being off that it was the island's Bermuda Triangle like properties that brought down the plane?I think there has been plenty of foreshadowing throughout the show, but to be honest, when there is no interaction at all, i.e. like the Hatch and the Losties, I don't see how they could have foreshadowed Desmond without ruining the surprise.Oh well, to each his own, but I just think Complainer is whining because his theories didn't work out and trying to point out inconsistencies with which I just don't agree. Sure the show isn't going to be perfect, but I think they have done the best job I have seen with such a complex setup in a TV show. Basically, he hates that it was just a guy, Desmond, that was in the hatch and that him not pressing the button brought down the plane. Oh that, and his favorite hottie, Shannon, was killed.