Trans 2010-05-24: “The End” (Series Finale)

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The end of “LOST.” Six seasons, over 120 hours, culminating in the two-and-a-half hour series finale, “The End.” We can’t believe we’re here. And we’re still struggling to process this final episode. This is our initial reaction “shortwave transmission.” But the full exploration of “The End” will come in our May 30 podcast. Please share your reaction and join the conversation by commenting below. Stay with us. Talk to us. Hold us!

Thanks to Jarred Matthes for allowing us to share his ‘ukulele rendition of Michael Giacchino’s “Life & Death,” originally recorded for the Geronimo Jack’s Beard podcast.

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1,260 Responses to Trans 2010-05-24: “The End” (Series Finale)

  1. chris in seattle says:

    i think it took some working, and i needed an angle/perspective at which to view the end.

    i was definitely bothered by the ending of the episode. i was enjoying the ride all the way until we came to the church.

    i felt it was a huge violation in that the sideways world was essentially a dream narratively speaking. it wasn’t real. any metaphysical no man’s land is equal to cheating as far as writing goes. its an easy way out, and invalidates the emotional truth of the audience and characters.

    so, i took a long while to work out that anger.

    the on island events i accepted and found poetic. the eye closing was obvious when it came to pass, but wonderful none the less. i was too busy being bothered by the sideways actions to be much moved though.

    until i heard the perspective that this was all jack’s story.

    not that the series was a fantasy before death, or even that the sideways was a flash at the moment of death. but that the narrative we followed for so long was ABOUT JACK.

    yeah. we’ve heard characters mention this before, like, ITS NOT ALL ABOUT YOU JACK, or, ITS GOING TO BE YOU JACK. but it was in the context of a character driven ensemble show. now it seems what we’ve really been watching was one characters journey.

    i may not like that fact, but it does seem consistent. and it was that structure i think i was lacking when i first watched the finale.

    i was so caught up in the theories and possibilities that i was very underwhelmed. i thought the well looked like something from the goonies and the styrofoam rocks falling around the island made me laugh. but turning to the afterlife in the final minutes broke my spirit. i was invested in the characters LIVES, not their SOULS. it was not purgatory we were told. and as such, the real world is what mattered.

    and as said, i was alright with what happened.

    now, looking at the series as one man’s story, i can reflect and really gage where everything fits.

    the LORD of the RINGS is frodos story. there are amazing characters that influence, guide, aid, and try to thwart frodo on his ultimate mission, but in the end, that story is HIS.

    thats not to say we don’t diverge with gandolf, or aragon. and that their fates are not important to us. but the arch of the story is told in classical hero cycles as one characters journey.

    and i think finally i see that.

    LOST had so many balls in the air, or, avenues they could go down, that we were all left pondering what was next. i certainly didnt think it was JACK’s story. not his alone.

    but we knew we had watched something for six seasons and were going into the FINALE expecting to get something. a guidepost, an answer, a reason.

    i think we got all of the above. we got the key to understanding the series, if not the events.

    there are so many open questions it boggles the mind! it angers me even. so many threads i want to see tied up.

    but in making it jacks story, those threads become just trivia. side bars for fun.

    the main action/story/event of the arch we watched WAS one man’s journey to save the island.

    i hate to even say that, as it seems to invalidate so much. but it is what seems, upon some reflection, to be the STORY we were watching.

    again, let me say, this isn’t what I WANT. i wanted locke’s return & redemption. i wanted that sideways to be an epilog in which everyone did get some rewards for all the suffering they went through FOR the island. i wanted MIB to have some greater consequences then the classic LOST shot in the back.

    but those weren’t the STORY they were telling. they were telling this one.

    i wanted more. i felt a huge sense of disappointment and betrayal when the episode ended. i wanted something else and coudnt fathom how all that even fit.

    now i think i at least have a framework to at least hang the story on.

    i still have my doubts, and concerns, but at least feel i have a way forward.

    just wanted to put this up as it meant a lot to me to find a way to enjoy what we just saw.

    good luck everyone. this has been an amazing strange & challenging journey.

  2. chris in seattle says:

    oh. one short of a 1000 comments!

  3. Tawl says:

    The perfect ending is the Bob Newhart ending. You could still cry your eyes out, love the characters, admire the story, call this the Best FINALE EVER, and ALL the Sci-Fi puzzles and questions would be answered.. because it was only a dream, stupid

  4. Carol from Boston says:

    @LReene – I apologize for missing it. There is so much going on with this board now.

    @Doc – I think Doc Jenson has a good point, less time spent on the sideways a few episodes would have been fine and made the same impact or one episode that was purely sideways where everyone connects and then spend the extra time answering mythology. But the writers wanted to make us think that Jughead worked and the plane never crashed.

    My favorite episodes this season – Ab Aterno, the Desmond episode, Dr. Linus, Happily Ever After and What they died for. (happily ever after was the Sun and Jin episode wasn’t it) Least fav – across the sea, I came to appreciate it more but still didn’t love it.

  5. Carol from Boston says:

    BTW, at the top of the posts this was posted by the Hutchinson family before the finale.

    Like a family vacation, its heartbreaking when it comes to a end.

    This comment makes me laugh because I am sure many of you think of the ending like a family vacation gone bad, high expectations, but then you get lost, or the hotel doesn’t look like the picture etc.

    Night everyone, hit 1000 comments tonight, probably 50 are mine. Whoops, that is why it is called an obsession right?

  6. Mark in Omaha says:

    @ docjkm,

    very well said. I agree 100%.

  7. Tawl says:

    What did one snowman say to the other snowman?

    Watch 6 years of lost and figure it out yourself 🙂

    (Same answer for these riddles..
    what was the purpose of the Numbers, what happened to Walt, and what was Eloise Hawking?)

  8. Angel says:

    1003. Oh, well maybe next time. Right…there isn’t going to be a next time. Anyway, I thought I would post a link to an article at the Huffington Post interviewing Lindelof and Cuse in the midst of Season 3.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-martin/lost-what-damon-lindelof_b_586484.html

  9. steve says:

    I think I know why Darlton went off on a media silence.

    It’s gonna take forever to read and analyze everything written about the finale, here and everywehre else, ha ha! 🙂

  10. Angel says:

    This is a spoiler of sorts for the article I linked to at HP. It’s the last paragraph of the article.

    Damon Lindelof : It always comes down to the characters. With people who love the show, the feedback always takes the form of, “I love Sawyer. Don’t do anything to Sawyer.” Or, “I love Desmond.” The fact that people still think of the show in terms of “It’s a Jack episode, It’s a Juliet episode, It’s a Ben episode,” is very cool, because that tells us we’re still character centric.

  11. VinATX says:

    STOP PASSING AROUND THE “Bad Robot Writer” ARTICLE.

    @ Kate From Cali
    – That article has been throughly debunked. Any avid lost fan can see alot of rookie mistakes in there.

    Misspelling of major character names (Whidmore, Hawkins etc),

    The whole , “Only season one people in the church” OH YA RLLY ? Explain Des ,Penny, Libby, Juilet, Bernard…

    Also richard has clearly met jacob and MIB, let me quote the write up;

    “However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interfered by “corrupting” Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. ”

    That is idiotic. Not even possible. Maybe if you say MiB was posing as jacob to richard sometime after corrupting ben or even corrupted richard, well you dont and that a big stretch thats nowhere close to implied anywhere.

    AND @ All the people liking this article or thinking it helped or cleared up things, well, it just proves how trollable and gullible you really are AND that you wernt paing much attention the entire six years.

  12. Faith Kaplan says:

    Thanks for all of the amazing opinions expressed here. I have been reading this and a lot of other Lost -related articles. I can relate to most of the entries, and seem to fluctuate in my outlook depending on what I am reading. I am an open vessel, and Lost is being mapped in my brain, turning and crossing over time and time again.

    I tend to look at Ryan and Jen as our figurative Hurley and Ben, Number 1 and Number 2 (not necessarily in that order), protecting us, the islanders, on our journey to understand the world(s) and struggles of the Losties. I hope they continue to blog and podcast about this for eternity, and we can all be redeemed in our quest for knowledge and understanding…

  13. steve says:

    @embie – Yes, that’s it. Om. Thanks. I’m going to have to do some more reading on it.

    So if we take the lingham and yoni metaphor further, if you separate the two, the world ends. It kind of makes sense, if you separate man and woman, it all falls apart. That’s in keeping with the we’re all in it together meme. And the yoni is the source of the light, so woman is giver of life. I like that (even though I’m not a woman).

    Boy, I’m glad this forum is pretty much made of grown ups, because I know if I mentioned this theme to some people, I’d never hear the end of the sexual innuendos on LOST.

  14. LReene says:

    @docjkm Says: May 25th, 2010 at 3:02 pm – Thanks!

    Carol from Boston Says: May 25th, 2010 at 3:16 pm – No problem. How well I know what has been going on with this board. As I said earlier, I have read each and every post. And it only took me most of last evening and the whole day today to do it. Sure glad I didn’t have anything else to do 😉

  15. steve says:

    I wonder what all the LOST bloggers are going to do with their blog? Assuming that people will keep watching LOST via DVD and streaming , will they have access to all that’s been written or will most people take down their blogs after awhile? I hope that future watchers have access to the well written material out there as it makes the show a better experience.

  16. docjkm says:

    @chris in seattle – Like it. Trying to buy it. Bartering with myself, but maybe you have given me something I can barter FOR. Thank you.

    @vinATX – Rock on brutha! The ‘post’ was fake balm for the weak. No aspersions cast, I be’s one, too.

    @Mark in Omaha – Thank you. I just hope we can help each other. We have to this point.

    @Tawl – Haha! LOL

    @YAE- The End does not define the Whole. I won’t let it.

  17. steve says:

    The last 108 seconds of the show / The first 108 seconds of the show, side by side:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7CJ_2K-1E&feature=player_embedded

  18. Econruth says:

    I’ve been watching from the beginning, listening to Ryan and Jen for a while and I love this show. Love this show! Defended it against the non-believers who told me it was purgatory.
    Now I want to defend Michael and his right to complain without harrassment. He’s not a troll. Want to know how I know? Because I feel the same way about this finale. It was about science AND faith and yet… we got a half-baked faith answer and no science. Lazy! Shame! I’m mad and I have a right to be mad, just as Michael has a right to be mad. I’m not on my high horse and I’m not a 19 year old male. I’m just severly disappointed!!!!

  19. Angel says:

    @ steve – Just saw that literally seconds ago. Pretty cool. The person who created that video made a video prior to that as his prediction of how the show would end. He used the pilot footage and reversed Jack’s eye opening so it appeared to close. The cool thing is this guy did it a month ago.

  20. steve says:

    For those of you who have friends who thought everyone died in the plane crash (oh yes, you have them), give them this:

    http://nikkistafford.blogspot.com/2010/05/no-theyre-not-all-dead-lost-finale.html

  21. docjkm says:

    @Coolpeace – I am happy I started (from the bottom) to try and catch up, a little. When I saw a long post from you, I stopped scrolling in anticipation, and again, you did not disappoint. I do not want to give the impression that I only read certain posts, I read ALL, or as many as I can in this case. I must comment on your latest epic, excellent, and gave me the kind of ‘thrill’ that Lost and YAE have been providing me for so long. I will so miss this.

  22. MLE in Colorado says:

    @Chris in Seattle…I think by my count- you were #1000…I hear they are giving our prizes for that sort of thing! 🙂

  23. Carol from Boston says:

    @Doc – gotta agree with you, Coolpeace catches a lot that I miss and does a wondeful job clarifying things.

  24. steve says:

    Did anyone ever ask Darlton about Mr. Eko and how they planned to write him into the story if they hadn’t focused on Ben? Just got to wondering.

  25. ::# Tawl Says:
    May 25th, 2010 at 3:22 pm

    What did one snowman say to the other snowman?::

    “Smells like carrots.”

  26. ::# Econruth Says:
    May 25th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
    Now I want to defend Michael and his right to complain without harrassment. He’s not a troll. Want to know how I know? Because I feel the same way about this finale. It was about science AND faith and yet… we got a half-baked faith answer and no science. Lazy! Shame! I’m mad and I have a right to be mad, just as Michael has a right to be mad. I’m not on my high horse and I’m not a 19 year old male. I’m just severly disappointed!!!!::

    Of course he has that right. Of course you have that right. We all have the right to feel as we do about the finale. But our rights to feel the way we do need to bow to common courtesy. Both camps need to be considerate to the other point of view.

    Unfortunately, many of the people who didn’t like the finale have stooped to describing those of us who did like it using such terms as “stupid”. That’s the sort of thing that gets someone labeled a “Troll”.

  27. Kate from California says:

    @VinATX – Well, today was the first time I’d seen the article, and while there were a few things in it that I thought were a bit off, I wasn’t aware it had been “thoroughly debunked”.
    If I posted something unhelpful or misleading, I did it unknowingly, and I’m more than happy for Ryan and Jen to take down the post; in fact, I’d do it myself if I had that ability.
    That said, I did find the ideas expressed in the article interesting. I don’t think that makes me trollable or gullible; it simply makes me someone who has a different opinion from you ~ not to mention someone who thinks name calling seldom advances a discussion.
    Namaste!

  28. chris in seattle says:

    @ docjkm believe me, its a tough sell. i am not there completely.

    but i need some way to make sense of what i take to be a really challenging ending.

    and not challenging in a good sense.

    i suppose the ending doesn’t invalidate the whole show, but it does certainly effect my perception of the whole thing.

    let me know what you come up with.

  29. VinATX says:

    @ Kate in Cali,

    Hey sorry! In that post you really didnt comment furthur, so the end comments from me were not a jab at you, i figured you just wanted to throw it out there for everyone to see, with the best intentions. The STOP PASSING.. came before the @Kate in, sorry if that wasnt more clear, i just didnt want others to start sharing it. This has been buzzing around and many many people are taking it and running with it, not even examining it closely. Good disscussions on other forums have been derailed by it . Also i dont think it should betaken down, i just didnt want the the thread to run with that post, however yes, my anger at the finale still found a way to fester in.

  30. Angel says:

    If you consider the entire series to be about Jack’s journey from someone without faith (lost, if you will) to not only of faith, but willing to sacrifice himself for others, everything makes complete sense.

    Another thought: It would be great it there was a way, once Season 6 is released, to play the episodes without the FSWs. I’d be interested to see if it all still holds up without those momentary excursions.

  31. Abbey42 says:

    Steve from like a million comments ago/re Walt: Thank you so much for saying this! I saw the Times Talk two, and I could have sworn they said we’d see Walt again. I had thought maybe I misunderstood until I saw your post. : )

  32. Karen says:

    Hi, love the podcast! It’s saved my Lost experience this season… I’ve been too busy to read and make sense of all the blogs because of grad school… but the podcast is just right! I wish I’d been listening all along!

    I’m surprised how little everyone has been talking about the theory of relativity in relation to the finale. There was so much of the show that touched on physics and Einstein… pretty obvious to me that the absence of time in the church scene was about making sense of existence through science. The wonderful thing about that for me is that what was presented at the end of Lost is as viable as any religion’s take on afterlife… in fact, it uses science to derive the idea, so perhaps it’s MORE viable. I think I’ll go forward in my life believing the hereafter is a sunny church with all my best friends looking as beautiful as they ever did. 🙂

    Thanks for everything!

  33. Jaycee says:

    @Jerry in SF. I like your theory. A lot. I have still been trying to reconcile Juliet setting off the bomb and what that meant in relation to the flash sideways. And it was obvious that Eloise had some critical role and knowledge in the FSW that others didn’t. You may just have something there….

  34. Coolpeace says:

    @ VinATX : Maybe the Bad Robot poster was not who he claimed to be, but with the exception of the final section claiming the writers had written the finale after the Pilot (which clearly was impossible – I do believe, however, that they did know what the final image was, Jack’s eye closing) he made some good arguments.

    You also say that his claim that MIB could corrupt Ben or make Ben work for MIB, is “… is idiotic. Not even possible.” Well, maybe I could help you see that it is in fact what happened to Ben. Ben was manipulated since he was a child by MIB to do his bidding.

    And here I must apologize to those who may have read my Loophole exposé before, but if it helps others understand the events put in place by MIB which culminate in Ben killing Jacob, then why not restate it :

    The Loophole scenario: Season 5

    We know that when Locke was shot by Ethan (in Because you Left) he tells Ethan then that his name is John Locke and that Ben had appointed him leader;

    LOCKE: My name is John Locke. I know this is gonna be hard to understand, but Ben Linus appointed me as your leader.
    ETHAN: That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

    *** A side note here : This exchange with Ethan and Locke occurred before 2004, before the plane crash and our Losties arrival on the Island – no doubt Ethan goes back and tells Ben that someone named John Locke says that he is our leader and you told him that. This bit of information, should make us rethink the events in season 2 in ia whole new light – the events of the hatch when Ben was captured by Rousseau an brought to the hatch. He wanted to see this Locke person and “played” John Locke against Jack and lied about the button to Locke when he was got under the hatch door. BEN knew all along who this Locke character was and he was afraid of him, and jealous of him and he tested him…. he thought that Locke was special, as mentioned by Ben in front of the church.

    Then just after the above encounter Locke flashed to 2007 (although we did not know that at that time) and Richard showed up to tell him that he must bring back the Oceanic 6, gave him the compass and told him he would have to die in order to bring them back…. Richard was acting on John Locke’s (as MIB) orders.

    [Richard Alpert emerges from the darkness carrying a torch.]
    LOCKE (as MIB): Richard?
    RICHARD: Hey, John.
    LOCKE: Richard… what is happening?
    RICHARD: What’s happening is that you’re bleeding to death. Here.
    RICHARD: I need to get the bullet out.
    LOCKE: How did you know there was a bullet in my leg, Richard?
    RICHARD: Because you told me there was, John.
    LOCKE: No, no. No, I didn’t.
    RICHARD: Well… you will.
    LOCKE: It was Ethan who shot me.
    RICHARD: Well… [donning eyeglasses] what comes around, goes around.
    LOCKE: Aah! When am I?
    RICHARD: Well, John, that–that’s all relative.
    ……….
    LOCKE: I don’t understand. How–how did you know that I was here? How did you know where to find me?
    RICHARD: I wish I had time to explain it, John. But you’re gonna be moving on soon, and we need to go over a couple of things before you do.
    …….
    RICHARD: Second thing–no, no, pay attention. Next time we see each other, I’m not gonna recognize you. All right? You give me this. All right?
    LOCKE: What is this?
    RICHARD: It’s a compass.
    LOCKE: What does it do?
    RICHARD: It points north, John. Look, I wish I had time to be more sensitive about this because it’s a lot to swallow, but you need to know it in order to do what you gotta do. So I’m just gonna say it, okay? [Sighs] The only way to save the Island, John, is to get your people back here–the ones who left.
    LOCKE: Jack, Kate… The chopper was headed for the boat. The boat–
    RICHARD: No, they’re fine, John, and they’re already home, so you have to convince them to come back.
    LOCKE: How–how am I supposed to do that?
    RICHARD: You’re gonna have to die, John.

    In the episode Follow the Leader, John arrives to the Others camp in 2007 and sees Richard for the first time since coming back to the Island (as MIB) – he is about to set Richard up with the fateful meeting scene above … giving Locke the compass and telling him he will need to die.

    LOCKE: I brought dinner.
    [Locke sets the boar down in the sand.]
    RICHARD: John?
    LOCKE: Hello, Richard. It’s been a while.
    RICHARD: It’s–it’s been, uh, three years. What happened? What–where–where were you?
    LOCKE: I’ll explain on the way.
    RICHARD: On the way where?
    LOCKE: It’s gonna be night soon. You and I have an errand to run, and we don’t have a lot of time.
    LOCKE: What’s wrong?
    RICHARD: Something different about you.
    LOCKE: I have a purpose now.

    ***Later in the episode :
    RICHARD: I’m ready, John.
    LOCKE: You still have that compass I gave you?
    RICHARD: A little rusty, but she can still find north.
    LOCKE: [Shouting] Ben, I’d appreciate it if you’d join us.
    BEN: [Shouting] What, John, don’t you trust me here with my former people? Afraid I’ll stage a coup?
    LOCKE: I’m not afraid of anything you can do anymore, Ben.
    [Ben nods.]
    BEN: Well, in that case, I’d love to come.

    ***They arrive at the spot overlooking where Locke was shot by Ethan :
    LOCKE: A man’s about to walk out of the jungle. He’s been shot in the leg.
    [Locke pushes a backpack into Richard’s chest. Richard grunts.]
    LOCKE: You’ll need this to get the bullet out.
    RICHARD: Uh, I’m sorry, John. I’m not–
    LOCKE: Now just listen. This is the important part. You’re gonna need to tell him that he has to bring everyone who left back to the Island. And when he asks how to do that… You tell him he’s gonna have to die.
    BEN: Who is that man, John?
    LOCKE: Me.

    ***A scene between Locke as MIB and Ben – while Richard is doing his thing with Locke, waiting for Richard to get back :
    BEN: This must be quite the out-of-body experience.
    LOCKE: Something like that.
    BEN: Your timing was impeccable, John. How did you know when to be here?
    LOCKE: The Island told me. Didn’t it ever tell you things?
    BEN: No, John. And clearly it hasn’t told you where Jacob is, or you wouldn’t need Richard to show you.
    LOCKE: You’ve never seen him.
    BEN: What?
    LOCKE: Jacob. You’ve never seen him, have you?
    [Whooshing thud]

    ***Here to flash occurred and Locke vanishes and Richard goes back to MIB and Ben.

    BEN: What just happened? Where did you go?
    LOCKE: To give Richard his compass back.
    RICHARD: You want the bullet?
    LOCKE: Keep it. Everything go all right?
    RICHARD: Well, you–you seemed pretty convinced, especially when I said you were gonna die. I’m certainly glad that didn’t have to happen.
    LOCKE: Actually, Richard, it did. We better get back to camp.

    In fact MIB’s loophole, did have 3 components to it.

    1) Get Locke to trumpet his coming to the 1950’s Others, by speaking with Richard and Ethan (follow Locke and the compass during time flashes). This would cause a myth to be born among the Others, and Ben would inevitably hear that a leader would come to the Island to take his place. Setting up both Richard and Ben.

    2) After meeting Locke in the 1950’s Richard sets out to observe and look out for Locke as a child (the test : which item already becomes to you – it was the compass). When Locke finally “lands” on the Island in 2004… and goes to the Others camp and decides to stay, causes Richard to accept that perhaps his 1950s meeting with Locke foretelling his arrival was indeed what Jacob wanted. That is why he helps Locke by giving him Sawyer’s file and helps Locke kill his father, which was a test Ben had set up to bring Locke down from the pedestal his was on… placed there by the myth that began when Locke visited Richard in 1950.

    3) Ben has been manipulated by MIB since he was a child. Seeing his dead mother, getting Sayid to shot young Ben and getting Richard to take him to the temple waters, are all part of his manipulations. Grooming Ben into believing that he was “special”. As well as, getting Richard to think that Ben should become leader, and going against Widmore as leader. I believe that Ben was lead to the Cabin by MIB. MIB was giving Ben the lists and made Ben believe he was working for Jacob… but in fact was doing MIB’s bidding. Getting Widmore banished, getting the Others to move to the Barracks, getting Ben to try and solve the fertility problem … all things that eventually caused Richard to doubt that Ben was keeping the best interest of the Island in mind. This undermining of Ben’s leadership played nicely into MIB’s plan to make Ben primed to kill Jacob.

    Ben really only wanted to do what was good for the Island, but was played by a better con man. One that had many many more years to plan his actions.

  35. HeyKir in NYC says:

    @Tim “it’s like a cake covered in icing. The characters are the cake. The mystery/mythology is the icing on the cake.”okay, look at it another way. It’s like a cake covered in icing. The _mystery/mythology_ is the cake. The _characters_ are the icing on the cake. We’ve been waiting for our cake, ate through a whole sh#t ton of icing, only to find more icing.

    But what if you REALLY LOVE icing? Its all a matter of taste. 🙂

  36. Coolpeace says:

    @ LReene : Carol from Boston’s reply to your request for help was very well written and expressed much of my thoughts.

    @ docjkm and Carol : thanks for the kind words, I try to write about it the way I feel it. I hope that time will give us a better perspective. Athough, as I said I really liked the finale and the last moments too.

    In the end Lost for me was about redemption and that we find it within ourselves with the help of those we love and those that have impacted our lives. Lost wrapped that message in some truly fascinating storytelling that I appreciated for 6 great seasons.

    On another level, Lost was also about community, the writers who in the end provided a loving culmination to the characters they created, the actors that surpassed themselves in the portrayal of those characters; the live band that scored every week the most beautiful music heard on any show, and of course the community of fans, bloggers, reviewers podcasters and for me personally YAE and Ryan and Jen. So, to all a big thank you for the time and efforts in making my Lost experience a wonderful thing.

  37. MrZ says:

    Edit: I’m watching the episode again with subtitles on, and every time two characters emerge/reconnected through montages, there’s a subtitle that says, “Low Magnetic Zap” as if the two characters do neutralize each others ‘shimmers’.

    Reposting Theory: What if Universe X isn’t so much purgatory but instead the island, and they are the whispers trapped like Michael? Michael said he couldn’t move on either.

    The light at The End of the episode is, therefore, the source of the island? They are all pieces of the light repelling each other like negative/negative or positive/positive magnets, incomplete because of their lost experiences from the island. That is until they find their constants/love/magnetic opposites (negative/positive). Because their bond is so unique to the island, they neutralize each others forces, and reveal their experiences from the island (like a shimmer from Doctor Who for those geeks who know). When their “shimmer” is cast aside, they can finally go back to the islands electromagnetic source and become united.

  38. MrVball says:

    hey Kate from California! I agree with everything u posted! Bottom line: What an unbelievably beatiful and incredible Finale! God, I loved it so much!

  39. Chasemore in Auckland says:

    @Steve

    “Did anyone ever ask Darlton about Mr. Eko and how they planned to write him into the story if they hadn’t focused on Ben? Just got to wondering.”

    Check out the interview with D&C on the Creative Screenwriting podcast – it answers this question, but theres loads of juicy bits in there.

    As for the Eko question – his role was going to be to challenge Locke for the role of spiritual leader of the island – but AAA quit about 2 days into shooting, so they could just drop the storyline. Ben didn’t pick up any storylines, but the time alotted to Eko was transferred to the ben storyline.

  40. Mark B says:

    @Tim

    I freely admit the mystery of LOST got me hooked and in the first season or two kept me hooked but the characters along with the mystery kept me watching. I was as obsessed by the blast-door map as the next man, I longed to find out exactly what the black smoke was, I needed, and I mean NEEDED, to know what the numbers meant. I too liked Lost because it challenged my mind and I loved Lost because it was different than the other shows on tv. However, the best mystery show ever will not work if the characters in that show are not ‘real’. Many mystery shows start out with grand ideas, few accomplish them, many are cancelled before they have the chance.

    I guess if you take ‘the answers are everything’ view of the show and become bitter about the lack of answers then yes you could say that the cake was the mystery and the characters the icing and the cake was not quite baked properly but without the characters the cake would never have been baked at all.

    If I’m honest I am now moving towards your side of the ‘great divide’ realising that the gloss is coming off the LOST finale. Partially because I now see that there are gaps in the story and unanswered questions — I’m starting to think “Hang on what about this and that and was sideways just an afterlife thing – but they said not purgatory years ago”.

    Back to the original cake=characters, icing =mystery analogy, the icing may have been a little thin in the finale but the whole cake with icing was some of the best cake I have ever eaten. But more icing would have been good, maybe some of those sprinkles too. This finale, for me, is an odd event — there have been episodes I did not like that after reflection liked (Across the Sea) but never an episode that I really liked that I ended up liking less which is where I am headed.

    Will I let this less than perfect ending ruin the entire show ? No, I won’t. Why ? Because I think we handed D&C a get out of jail free card at the start of the finale, we loved their show from the moment Jacks eye opened and they should be allowed to end it anyway they want. Just because we don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s meaningless.

    I am still somewhat shocked by how people who loved the show up until the final two or three episodes are now really unhappy and are claiming they were conned or duped and have wasted the last six years on a tv show that ended in an unsatisfactory way. I think they set themselves up to fall because they had their own theories and list of required answers and when they did not materialise then, they fell, and fell hard and now want someone to blame. Enter D&C.

    It reminds me of that saying about a thin line between love and hate and how there is no emotion more intense than failed or lost love. May be for some fans LOST is a love affair gone bad and all they can see is that final bitter argument that ended with shouting, apportioning blame and slamming doors. In time we’ll realise that we had a good time for six years with our ‘partner’ but it ended in a not ideal way but we’ll see the relationship was worth it after all.

    I think Damons “Remember. Let go. Move on.” Was meant in that context, this is a tv show, it was always going to end, it ended, it ended in a way that did not answer all your questions but it was still a good show. Remember the good times, the Constant, Exodus etc. Let go of your hate for that last episode. Move on.

  41. docjkm says:

    With very rare exception, and none of those from the box in my home, has storytelling engaged, stimulated, and just mentally caged me the way Lost did, does. That includes books (and I read like a Hoover), movies, theater, what have you. Love a good story. So, YAE, I tip my hat to the ‘whole thing’, including all the ancillary material and participation on the “world wide inner-web”. This is a period of my life likely to be recalled as ‘the Lost years’. It has been truly absorbing, and very rewarding. I have examined my own life because of entertainment from my box. This, to me, is a paradigm shift. I echo the hope that we will see more like this. The gypsy in me says I’m dreamin and the crystal ball is no seein that. But, the television world has been put on notice. This can be done, and it can be successful in the Nielsen manner of determining success. Whew! If I’m in TV, there’s no where to hide… except in the continual manner of underestimating the audience and playing to the lowest common denominator. No prob. This viewer will just set the monitor to the BluRay player, and forget ”TV”. Just where I was 6 years ago. Thank you to ALL involved. For 6 years you really changed my life, and Lost left things in my mind and heart that continue to reverberate, and effect the way I see, and the way I hope to be seen. I cannot believe I’m saying that about TV.

    Whether you liked the ending or not… this was a game changer. At least as concerns expectations, and ‘the bar’.

  42. just reading through comments, there are a lot that ask about other characters. i am not sure what happened, they threw in ana lucia, but others were missing in the final scene. like why wasn’t helen there, it was kinda sad to see john alone. penny was there, not like she knew every one else.

    the people in the last scene were the people who built the reality and they had the connection with people in that room…there had to be a connection there in order to remember everything from their life. desmond told eloise that he wasn’t going to take him, that doesn’t mean some one else could make that connection with him and take him. the same with ana lucia. although ben knew, i think he was still trying to work some things out from his life, but might come along later.

    i think they should have had a longer season and spent some time to put more characters in and had a episode about darma…why the hell were they looking for the light, to travel to time…what happened after the explosion…so many questions about so many things….

    in the end i was happy, i liked how all the relationships that had some much against them in life were able to come together.

  43. steve says:

    With all the attention on the big picture, James (Sawyer) was in nickname wisecracking form.

    When you’re done coming down the mountain burning bush wisecrack.

    Wisecrack on Jack’s “inauguration”.

    Hurley – bigfoot.

    He called Miles or Richard, Enos. Turned on the CC to get that one. Who is Enos?

    Again, Juliet, Blondie.

    I can’t recall them all, maybe others can fill in, but there were a bunch. James Sawyer is George Bush.

    Lapdius calls Richard Ricky Boy.

    Seems like stress brings out the evil nickname calling bug.

    One more thing. If only the protector can see the light, how was Locke going to find the light if he killed all the candidates? Perhaps once all the candidates are killed, the light source can be seen by all. Maybe Widmore told him or he gleamed the info from Widmore’s goons as Smoke Monster.

  44. Embie says:

    @ Steve – good elaboration on how the lingam and yoni represent the source of all life – water is poured over the lingam and drains from the yoni as sanctified water. I will try to post a good image and more details later. But, for now, namaste – which means the light in me sees the light in you.

  45. Aaron from perth says:

    well i am very pleased with the final, and i cant believe it but i called the final scene in my post on oliv3r.net that the show would end the way the pilot started. I got shivers when i saw that!
    I think we will see another LOST show in the future. The mythology is all laid out now and although all our characters we know and loved are all dead there is no reason that it couldnt continue with hurley handing over the rains to another leader, and a new group of people on the island. We realised in the final that the island was a real character and it needs protecting. It will always need protecting. When abc runs out of good shows in maybe 5 – 10 years they will dig it up, for better or worse i will be waiting anxiously !!!

  46. Embie says:

    @ steve – lingam via wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingam – yoni via wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoni

    The water represents the female aspect. The light in this case the male (IMHO). Both are needed as you point out. In preliterate, prescientific, societies the production of children was a great mystery (amd isn’t it still, in some ways?) and so the reification of the genital organs, and the worship of same, was a way to ask for the intervention of the gods in the important act of reproduction. Water, and light, we also need to live.

    This fits also with the statue of Tawaret and I suspect there are other fertility worship symbols on the island, For example, the stone arch or standing stones that marked the site of the others’s camp where Walt was being held – this may evoke Stonehenge, a site of “pagan worship” which possibly had something to do with fertility whether agricultural or human. Standing stones or megaliths have their own folk belief stories – for example that they emerge spontaneously, that they cannot be moved or dire things will happen, and that accurate counting (numbers!) of them is difficult and dangerous, leading perhaps to death.

    I could go on, but I’d better get back to my life in the “real world.” Like you, I’m glad we are all grownups here.

  47. Carol from Boston says:

    @Mark B – I didn’t copy the whole tweet of Damon, he also thanked everyone and mentioned how much he will miss the show. You have a good take on what his tweet meant.

    @Steve – I have read that Enos was the sheriff on Duke’s of Hazzard. Boss Hogg’s sidekick.

    @Doc “The lost years” I like that. I always enjoyed the show, but must admit I became a lot more involved once I found this board and podcasts.

    @Chasemore – The actor who plays Eko was invited back for an episode this season but he declined.

  48. Mimi says:

    This was so funny. It is from “The ONION” which is usually brilliant. What a fun job it must be to work there.

    NEWS BRIEF: LOST POSSIBLY STILL AIRING IN PARALLEL DIMENSIONS. NEW YORK—Desperate fans of the recently concluded television series Lost are speculating that the program is continuing on in a parallel dimension somewhere, and that alternate versions of showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are currently writing new episodes of the series. “It’s very possible that a sideways world running concurrent to our own exists, and that a facsimile of myself is happy, fulfilled, and already gearing up for the season seven premiere of Lost,” said 36-year-old Kevin Molinaro, who, along with more than 20 million other hopeless fans, has recently booked multiple roundtrip tickets from Los Angeles to Australia in hopes of traveling through a vortex in the space-time continuum. “I just have to find a way to get there. We all do.” According to data from Google analytics, searches for “How to build/detonate/use a hydrogen bomb to open up a multidimensional wormhole” have increased 10 millionfold since the episode aired.

  49. LReene says:

    @YAE – What I want to see is a book, “LOST”. It should contain all the back stories, flash forwards, time travel, Dharma, the DeGroots, Alavar Hanso, The Hanso Foundation, the OTHERS, and on & on & on.

    While there may be other writers that could do it, I can invision this book being written by Tom Clancy, as he is excellent in weaving in all kinds of story lines, sub-plots, and side characters and having them all flow together and make sense in the end.

    The cool part would be, since we have already invested 6 years in LOST, it probably wouldn’t matter to any of us how long the book is. It could be 2,000 pages, or it could be 6,000. We would be able to visualize each and every character as their story unfolded in print. And it could even end the same way as the TV show, only with all the missing pieces filled in along the way.

    Ooooo, the alarm just went off……… time to wake up now.

  50. LReene says:

    @ Mimi May 26th, 2010 at 4:31 am –

    Quick! We need to get in touch with Walter Bishop! The last I knew he was still at his lab at Harvard. I’ll bet he can help!!

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