The most exciting five minutes ever

As I mentioned in a previous post, I feel as though I have no choice but to watch "Lost" on a regular basis. I have become "hooked," as "they" say. I deeply regret this, for the show is overly manipulative and unnecessarily shocking. One of the main motives driving the writers as they script each episode is to accomplish two different feats.
The first is to make each five minute section that most exciting five minutes in the history of television. "Lost" is not alone in this endeavor. Another popular show, "24", has the same goal. Whether or not the situations are possible or likely, given the framework of the show, is not important. What is important is that they keep you constantly on the edge of your seat.
The second feat is to always proceed down the least likely path. Whenever the writers get to an intersection in their storytelling, where they could either go down road A or road b, they always seem to choose roads A, B, C, and D. Once again, the probability and possibility of these events happening within the established parameters of the show is a factor they do not consider. What matters is that the primarily unsuspecting audience is continually caught off guard.
"Lost", unlike "24", does a good job at sprinkling psycho-babel and quasi-philosophical discussions to make the show seem more deep and meaningful that it really is. Ultimately, it is a carnival act with lots of action and incomprehensible mysteries. I just wish I could stop watching it.
That is all.