I've recently started watching Lost now that it's on Netflix,. I just finished the first season and I really like it, however, the formula became apparent quite early. 'X' happens on the island, so we flashback to some relevant moment in a character's life off the island. This was fine at first as it helped introduce the main characters, but after the initial intros, it has started to feel redundant and a bit like a crutch.

I was hoping that season 2 would stick to more "on island" drama, as I tend to not care for the flashback stuff, but having just finished E1 of S2, it was the same old formula. My question is does this ever go away, or is this the way the episodes play out for the remainder of the series?

If it's the latter, I'm tempted just to skip ahead to the final few episodes to see how the show ends, since I've heard the ending isn't the best, and I'm wary of investing so much time into a show that might not be worth it.

Thanks