The LOST Finale

Some people have waited six years for last night’s final episode of Lost.  Others have waited only a few months after binging on the last five seasons via DVD or Netflix in a short, unhealthy amount of time    Either way, there have been a lot of people waiting to see how the story would end.  After last night’s episode I have heard voices both decrying the ending and praising it.  And let’s face it, there was absolutely no way that Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cruse could end this show in a way that pleased all fans.  The following is my own interpretation of the ending and why I think it was a good conclusion to six years of spectacular storytelling.

Lost is a show that has been driven by its characters, and their stories are what have drawn us to the show, not the mysteries of the island.  With that said, the mysteries of the island are still very important for us viewers and I’m glad that the producers spent the majority of season six answering many of the questions that have been raised.

(If you’re still confused and upset that all of your questions have not been answered, take a second to pause and think of what those questions actually are, because I’m sure that you don’t even remember many of them – or a lot more of them have been answered than you think!)

Thus, I have felt that season six has been lacking when compared to other seasons because so much time has been spent on the mythology that there has been a loss of focus on the characters.  To that end I think the finale was a success.  It put Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Claire, Charlie, Hurley, Locke, Jin, Sun, and so many others back into the spotlight so that we can remember them, their journeys,  and how they’re stories conclude, rather than some mystical conglomeration of world faiths and an epic battle between good and evil.

What use  are all the answers to the questions if we don’t get to see how the characters play out?

** Spoiler Alert **

There have been many questions asked after the finale:  Are they all dead?  If so, did they all die together?  When did they die?  Was the Island even real?  And so on, and so son.

Here’s my take (as if it really means anything).

The island was real.  Everything that happened on the island really happened.  Everyone who died on the island really died.  The island was not purgatory.  What was purgatory, or the cosmic “waiting room” for the afterlife, were the “flash sideways” that we’ve been seeing the entire season.  As Christian Shepherd said to Jack near the end, everyone dies.  Some died before Jack and some long after Jack, but eventually everyone died.  Hurley remained the protector of the Island (with Ben his number two); Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Richard, and Lapidus all escaped from the island via the plane (and the assumption is they lived long and happily afterward).  We saw everyone at the end because everyone eventually dies, though we can assume that those previously mentioned went on to live years after Jack’s death that we saw on the island.

One of the themes of the entire show was Jack’s motto, “Live together, die alone”.  But in fact, they couldn’t die alone.  The relationships they built through the collective experience of the island bonded all of the characters together in a way that would not allow them to be at peace until they could move on together.  That’s why I liked the conclusion of the series.  We were able to reconnect with all of the characters, even those from five seasons ago, and see a “happy ending.” And this was done without the producers cheapening their memory on the island or finding some awful way of tying it all up neatly.  Everyone crashed on the island as broken and flawed individuals, but we’ve been able to glimpse their redemption.  And for that, I am thankful.

Feel free to post your own thoughts or questions in the comments feed.

~ t

Note to Christian readers of this blog:  I know many may have been upset, or even appalled, at the Unitarian church with symbols of all faiths that seemed to preach a message that everyone gets to go to the same place in the end.  But think about the world of Lost.  It is not a world where Christ is supreme.  It is a world much closer to Buddhism, where good and evil must remain in balance, and where one’s good deeds must outweigh one’s bad deeds in order to be at peace and move on in the afterlife.  If you can’t be appalled at Jacob and the man in black, at the Dharma Initiative, at immortality being accessible from a bottle of wine, then you can’t be appalled at the “everyone wins in the end” ending.  My Christian theology doesn’t work in the world of Lost, so I can’t expect it to play by my rules.  That’s just my two cents.

TGIF – The Muppets Meet LOST Creators Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cruse

Do you want to know all the answers surrounding the mysterious island on LOST?  Well, in the following video the muppets take on LOST creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cruse for all their hidden secrets.  I think the biggest revelation, though, is how bad they both are at acting!

~ t

Get Lost The Jack Bauer Way

So, with the season premier finally approaching (a week from tomorrow!), you’ll probably get a good, if not permanent, break from Lost news.  But for now, I thought I’d share the following video, which depicts the plane crash in Lost in real time (i.e. in the style of the show 24).  This will probably make you wish that we can see the whole series chronologically, but that might just take the fun out of it all.

Also, as a bonus, this video includes unseen footage of deleted scenes found on the DVDs.

~ t

Get Lost In 8:15

I know I’ve been updating about the TV show Lost quite a bit, but I just can’t help the excitement as the final season looms near.  The following video is an 8 minute 15 second recap of the entire series.  To those who have followed the show, this will be a good reminder of a lot of the events that have taken place.  If you’ve never watched Lost, this video may help or may not – either way, you’ve got 4 weeks to watch all five seasons before the February 2nd premier of the final season.

~ t

I Once Was LOST…

If you have not been able to keep up with the show Lost for the past 5 years, I’m truly sorry for you.  I recommend spending your ENTIRE Christmas break watching the first 5 seasons to prepare for the final one, season 6, starting February 2nd.

Or if you want to be really cool, try to watch all five seasons in less than two weeks like some friends of ours: The Wilsons

The following two promos don’t offer any new footage, but they’ll still make you geek-out over the season premier.

Amazing Grace:

Cuatro:

HT: Collider

For Lost Junkies Only: Dharma Initiative Documentary

Dear dear friends,

Are you addicted to Lost?  Did the last season leave your head ready to explode?  Does your brain still struggle with all the time travel and not knowing who’s who in the ultimate battle of Good versus Evil?  Will your nerves even survive until the final season starts in January 2010?

FEAR NOT!

Satisfy your intellects with ABC’s new Mysteries of the Universe five-part documentary on the Dharma Initiative.  Click the logo below and let me know what you think.