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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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Something just struck me. How is the world going to react to ajira 316 suddenly showing up?
The plane carrying 5 of the oceanic 6 vanishes, only to appear a few weeks later with only the pilot and Kate who were on the flight.
Not only that, you’ve got 2 oceanic people (Sawyer and Claire) who were presumed dead.
And miles.
But the biggest thing is Richard. How are they going to explain to the world who Richard is? Um, he was born like 170 years ago, but yeah he was made ageless for awhile.
Maybe using bens resources in the real world, they can get him a new identity.
Just some random thoughts I had last night.
@ LReene : may be this will help
To those who wanted more answers to the mysteries…
I was thinking about my understanding of the show as stated above (Coolpeace May 25 @ 10:01 am) as being a story about two life stories Jacob’s and Jack’, and it dawned on me that this view also explains why many of the mythological and mystery elements of the show could not be answered in an organic way once jacob died.
Here is an expansion of on my above mentioned post :
Jacob’s story gave us the mythological side of the narrative. In order of appearance but not limited to : The smoke monster, Rousseau, The Others, The Dharma Initiative, elements of Egyptian mythology, The Statue, MIB , the island Mother, the light/source. All these mythological elements are tied to Jacob’s life and his journey.
Jack’s story gave us the character side of the narrative, which includes our Losties from 815 and their stories. These people are intricately woven together since the crash and has impacted Jack’s life going forward from the crash – as Christian says : the most important moments of your life. Jack’s story also provided us with the faith versus science and the free will versus destiny debates
When analyzing Lost in this light, it becomes easier to understand that most of the mythological answers of the show had to “die†with Jacob. The only factor that remained significant to Jacob was his need to pass on the protection of the Island/source to another guardian and to fix the MIB problem. With Jacob gone, the mysteries and the mythos (why he did what he did) died with him.
What remained was Jack’s story and his journey with the Losties, all looking for redemption in their own way and finding it within themselves with the help of others along the way.
wow…
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/05/one_hundred_unanswered_lost_qu.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nymag%2Fvulture+(Vulture+-+nymag.com%27s+Entertainment+and+Culture+Blog)&utm_content=Google+Reader
@VinATX – No worries. Sorry if I sounded snappish ~ very long day yesterday!
Even if the “Bad Robot” article isn’t genuine, I still got a lot out of it, and it seems as though some other folks did as well. I think it entirely depends on your viewpoint, and how you approach the show. That’s one of the many great things about Lost: we all have our own experience of it, and so much is left open to interpretation that each person’s reality and experience of the show is equally valid. And I love that!
@ Mimi and LReene : I like the Onion story and yes take me to Walter Bishop!! A book would be good too but for me it would have to be canon and that means that it would need to be written by someone who wrote for the show.
In the end, it seems to me that we are finding it hard to let go of this universe that Lost created for us. It is hard to break an addiction … but it can be done…
Seven stages of grief anyone?
@Mattfromnd – I thought about Ajira 316 too.
Lapidus has probably thought this through already. I imagine him finding someplace surreptitious to land. I can imagine his character knowing a thing or two about these things. They’ll have to dump to plane and live incognito.
Even if the losties purchased their tickets using other identities, which I doubt, there is no way to return to a normal life.
As for living out their lives, I think Hurley sends Desmond back to the real world and Hurley and Penny have the resources to get the losties incognito lives started. Richard probably has connections to the mainland Others and he’ll need health insurance for the first time in years.
The hardest thing to do will be to ditch the plane. I guess someone could fly over the ocean somewhere, point it down and parachute out.
I definitely would not buy stock in Oceanic or Ajira.
OK, that’s it for me. Once I listen to the last Transmission podcast and read the last FishbiscuitLand post, I am closing the book on LOST until the season 6 DVDs are available on Netflix. It’s been a trip.
I was trying to figure out why some were selected for the church and others weren’t. I went back to Jack’s flash when he touched the coffin, and all of those in the room were in the flash, except for Desmond. Some were in the room because of their relationship to those flashed on by Jack. (Bernard for Rose, Libby for Hugo.) All of these characters were treated or helped by Jack at some point. Desmond brought them all there, so that’s why he was there. Anyway, that is my take on it. Also, things happened in the sideways world in order to bring them together, but also because of what they wanted or felt they deserved. Sayid didn’t feel he deserved to be with Nadia, but he did deserve Shannon because he was a “better” person on the island. Sun and Jin wanted to be happy and fool her father. Ben wanted to be respected and liked. John wanted to be able to walk and to be with Helen. She died while he was on the island, by the way, not before as one person said. Charlie wanted success as a musician and knew he had a lot of trouble overcoming his addiction. I think it all fits.
As this board is winding down I want to take one last opportunity to thank Ryan and Jen and YAE for all the help with this episode.
I am at peace with the finale. I now understand it and don’t really have any more questions or theories to figure out. I have read enough here and online to have it figured out enough to stop theorizing. A special thank you to Coolpeace, Doc, John Fisher, Islandsidhe, MLE, LReene, Greenberry and Shannymac. Discussing the pros and cons of this episode with you and everyone made things much clearer for me. I have read every single post on this board and I would love to include everyone by name but there are too many of you. All of you helped me, even the people with different views because they got me to challenge my beliefs and really think about the episode.
I stand by my first post on Sunday, the ending was beautiful, it had a big emotional impact on me and I am sure the second viewing will cause me to cry just as hard as the first viewing did. This episode will stay with me for a long time. We all have different religious ideas and for some of us the afterlife exists and for others it doesn’t. In the church office scene you can look around and see many religions represented. When my father passed away my son was 3 and couldn’t grasp the thought that he could no longer see his “papa” and that “papa” couldn’t see him, so he asked me if my dad was watching us from Heaven with Binoculars so he could still see us. That image has always stayed with me, the thought of our deceased loved ones keeping up with our lives. The finale of Lost has added to that imagery and left me feeling closer to the people I have lost.
So shocker, no new theories from me. I’ll still be reading the board and probably commenting . Thank you to everyone for putting up with my many, many comments and theories the past couple of years. I hope I didn’t wear out my welcome like the guest that never leaves. I valued all your opinions and I had fun debating and theorizing with all of you.
Hopefully we’ll stay connected through facebook and popspotting. I can’t imagine a Sunday without a Ryan and Jen Podcast.
Yann, Knives, Rich in Cleaveland and Connie in Alaska/Oregon. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on the finale.
Aloha
Carol
@Coolpeace May 26th, 2010 at 4:56 am: – I know what you are saying and can appreciate it. As you pointed out in another post, it could also be that some of us just aren’t ready to “let go” of the universe that LOST created for us, I have thought about that. BUT………..
For those of us who feel that the show (and the writers) fell far short of explaining the plot points and story details that were created to keep us interested in the characters, it goes beyond that.
I don’t think there is any question that many of the loose ends most of us would like to see tied up weren’t already discussed in the writers room. I guess I just don’t agree with those (and this will probably open up another whole can of worms but…..) that say Damon & Carlton didn’t know where they were going and just threw stuff at us to keep us interested. They KNEW what they were doing and I think they knew where they were going.
Hmmmmm, ok, bear with me on this for a moment.
Let’s use an example the canoe chase scene that so many seem to be so upset with because we didn’t find out who was shooting at them. Personally not knowing doesn’t bother me at all, but I knew to some it does, so I use it as an example……. I just can’t believe that in the writers room, whoever pitched that idea of having someone shoot at the Losties during a time flash, didn’t have to not only explain their idea but also explain who it was that was doing the shooting. They KNEW! When questioned by the other writers present they just didn’t say “Oh it doesn’t make any difference”. I’ve been in “think tanks” and “collaborative discussions” such as must have gone on when writing LOST, and I have to believe that if the pitch person for an idea couldn’t justify the scene, it wouldn’t have been used. So………. why is it such a big deal to share it? “Oh, they ran out of time.” B.S. They have had 3 years. Same with “The Numbers” (which does stick in my personal craw). With as HUGE of a story line that surrounded the numbers, who ever dreamed up the idea of using it to grab everyone’s attention and keep them interested for at least a season or 2 had to have (and explain to the other writers) what the basic intent of the numbers as presented amounted to. More than just “Oh Jacob has a thing for numbers”. Baaaah! I don’t buy it!
Ok and now (and then I’ll close this rant and shut up), it is not only being pretty well documented on-line, but Jorge also has said on his Podcast, that there will be lots of additional information regarding all of these missing details, as special extras on the DVD set. To me, this alone says sorry, all the information on The Others, The Dharma Initiative, elements of Egyptian mythology, The Statue, MIB , the island Mother, the light/source, yada, yada, yada did NOT die with Jacob. Somebody, somewhere along the production line, decided no, we will not include that in the show……. will will hold that information for the DVD set so people will have to buy that to make the story of LOST complete.
In a way, it sort of reminds me of the way they ended “Prison Break”. While I’m not sure how many on this board watched that series, but I personally was heavily invested in it. Like LOST, I saw every episode (many multiple times), recommended it to friends, purchased all the DVDs, etc. In the end, there was a complete 1-1/2 hr portion of the story that Fox TV decided not to air. The whole thing had been shot, produced, edited, etc and just was not put on the air as part of the series. It was released by Fox as a DVD movie about 3 months after the series finale. And the best part……… the events of this DVD only movie had taken place “PRIOR” to what happened in the season finale. Could the viewer accept the end of the series without this DVD movie? Sure. Did the DVD movie change anything that happened in the series finale, no, not in the slightest. But it did tie up many loose ends from the series and made the viewer feel a whole lot better about the bitter-sweet ending of the main character.
Anyway, I guess maybe all of this explains a little better why I am having such a hard time with the way LOST was ended. And sorry for the terribly long post and rant.
i’m not so sure this board is winding down yet, Carol. looks like we’re still grinding over the details. but that’s one of the things that brought us here, no?
i’m pretty good with the end. i’ve watched it 3 times, and overall it’s satisfying. partly because it may as well be,eh? not going to change now. our perceptions might, but not the show.
i mainly have 2 strong questions. what happened to Desmond? after he gets dragged out of the cave, he’s gone. poof. he’s not with Jack or Hugo, didn’t get on the plane. just a word would have been enough for me.
which leads to #2. for someone who appeared to at least have intimate understanding of the Island and it’s mechanizations, if not actually being a controlling interest, Eloise was sure given the bums rush. again, it wouldn’t take a lot. a sentence or two.
otherwise, i’m good. i do wish there had been more reasons during the series to put Kate in that little black dress. but hey, thats just me.
oh yeah, one thing i’ve been wondering about. would makeup work qualify for emmy consideration? if so, i nominate whoever it was that gave us the multitude of sweat-stains that have graced Lost over the years. i’m only partly kidding. i expect that some of them were real – i’ve been to hawaii. but the loving care thats been seen.. wow.
@ Carol ~ I feel like you have been the “heart” of this board ~ your warmth jumps off the page!
@ Carol and Coolpeace and so many others (I’m still ridiculously behind in my ‘catching up’) ~ Amen to your comments!! I was initially pissed with the last scene (that they were fast-forwarded to DEATH, since I relate more to LIFE), but Ryan and Jen’s podcast and so many comments here have helped me sort out that it was a lovely and okay ending ~ to ‘let go’ and see the splendor of what the Losties meant to each other, how they completed each other ~~ Psychologically (my bent), it is pure and very beautiful
@LReene ~ You have always been such a positive, enthusiastic poster, so I certainly take your criticisms to heart ~ I never wanted ‘details’ or ‘answers’ like you and others did, but I wanted the Losties’ story resolved in LIFE rather than death; I was left dumbdounded and upset. Having the Losties FOUND in death felt like a huge cop-out or at least frustrating. I personally do not want to have to wait for death to find peace, so it was hard to see them only find their redemption this way
Watching LOST and then finding “The Transmission” and YAE has meant the world to me!!! I am still trying to figure out how to join the facebook ‘fan page’ which is so far eluding me. I can get on the site, but can not see where to ‘join up.’
@ Aaron ~ good post, good questions… speaking of Kate: it was the intense criticisms of her (in Season 5?) that (gave me the courage) got me to start ‘commenting’ on this blog!!
In the end, she was given the privilege to shoot MIB and to guide Jack to the church, so that was cool. Even Jen agreed she redeemed herself.
@greenberry – Thank you so much for the kind words. I really do hope though that no one took my comments here as criticism. I SO don’t want to be critical at all, I have just been trying to explain why I personally am having a hard time of “letting go”.
As for your feelings, as I mentioned yesterday (or maybe the day before)in a post, that is the other part of the problem I have with the ending. Not only were the “answers” to way too many story lines missing, but like you I feel character story lines should be resolved in life, not in death. In death, I believe the character’s story line is automatically ended. Enough said.
To Coolpeace @ May 25th, 2010 at 5:34 pm: While I found the majority of your expose regarding MIB’s efforts to manipulate Ben and Richard illuminating, I couldn’t helpt but notice a potential problem. Admittedly, I came to Lost somewhat late (beginning of Season 3) and have only seen a handful of episodes from Seasons 1 and 2, but as your argument rests almost exclusively on events shown during Season 5, I feel qualified to at least comment.
In your post you said:
“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.
……….”
At the time of the interaction between Richard and just-shot-in-the-leg Locke in 2007, it is NOT MIB as Locke — rather it is just Locke. Similarly, when Locke encounters Richard in 1954, he is still just plain ol’ Locke, although he is acting based upon information provided by MIB as Locke via Ricard in 2007 prior to the timeflash taking all of the on-island Losties to the 1950s (“Jughead”).
The only way that MIB could have been acting as Locke during the initial timeflash encounter with Ethan is if he somehow took Locke’s form BEFORE Locke left the island by turning the donkey wheel and stopping the Island in 1974. While possible, this would fly in the face of everything we learned about MIB, specifically that he can take the form of dead people. As Locke did not die until sometime (presumably) in 2007 after turning the donkey wheel, MIB couldn’t have assumed his form prior to Ben murdering him in LA. Of course, further evidence is the fact that Locke was actually shot by Ethan when it was made clear repeatedly during this season that bullets couldn’t harm MIB.
Thus to summarize (as I fear I’ve rambled quite a bit): While I agree that MIB most likely manipulated Ben throughout the latter’s tenure on the island, I think your outline relies upon an incorrect assumption. However, I could be wrong and welcome any corrections.
Namaste.
@Greenberry – if you are a facebook member you just have to click on the top where it says “like” and then you will be part of the Transmission group. Facebook has gotten rid of the “be a fan” part. Once you “Like” it you are all set.
Thanks for the nice things you just said.
I don’t know what makes me more sad, that Lost is over or the Transmission will soon be over.
@ MLE ~ Thanx SO MUCH for thinking of me!! Wish I had been there!!! Have traveled nearly all of May, so am still recouperating… but in the future????
Just wanted to say thanks to the creators of Lost, to Ryan and Jen and their podcast, to the endless discussions about the show that went on here.
Thanks for those six years, I really enjoyed the ride!
Goodbye Lost.
Thank you for being a memorable part of my life for six years
@ LReene : ha, don’t apologize for the long post, now I feel better about all of mine 🙂
You are right about the fact that Damon and Carleton and the whole of the writers must have know who shot whom on the canoe. If fact, I don’t remmeber where I heard it (may be the Official Podcast?) but they did answer that question directly saying that although they knew who and what was happening in that scene – they felt that answering that question would mean that they would have to write a convoluted way around the main narrative to answer it. I am paraphasing but hopefully the gist of their answer comes through. Perhaps it happened in the past, and they could not return to the 1950s to answer it.
As for the numbers, they certainly were a very big factor in the first couple of years. Did you check out the first ARG that came out after the secons season? I did not play along when it first came out but I did go back to read about it on Lostpedia… I think it was called The Lost Experience. It did give some insight into the numbers.
Ultimately, I guess its about having different expectations, I really did enjoy the mystery aspect of the show and it did keep me busy with theories and analysis but in the end I don’t begrudge them the choices they made in telling their story the way they did. It was a great story, a fun story, a moving story.
But I hear what you say and I can understand how you feel. I hope whatever they have on DVD will get passed around on the net so those that don’t want to spend can get additional resolution. And maybe it is just a case where the writers needed a few more hours – but it would still have to be concluded.
ps : I did follow Prison Break – are you telling me that I have to go rent the final disk to get a better understanding of what happened to Michael?? Dammit 😉
@Coolpeace – Yep, that is EXACTLY what I am telling you! If you want to know what really happened to Michael, Sarah, and actually the whole ending story line, you need to get the DVD. The ending they showed on TV was a tear jerker (I don’t think I have ever wiped away so many tears during a series finale), but it just did NOT do the actual ending of Prison Break justice at all. For that, you need the DVD to find out what happened before that last finale episode.
NOW……. knowing what I just said. How does THAT make you feel about the ending of LOST?
@Coolpeace – Ooops, regarding the Prison Break DVD, I should have said “what happened before the last few scenes”.
@ LReene : (Smiling with a very wide grin) Like I said I understand where you are coming from. And I have always enjoyed your thoughts and theories, but I am alright with the ending of Lost – whatever we get on the DVD will be a bonus for me.
Now I must rush off to work, passing by the video store for some final Michael fare 🙂
@ LReene : I know what you meant.
@Carol from Boston: Thank you for the kind words. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s posts, whether they liked the finale or not, and I have gained new perspectives on the show through this board and from Ryan and Jen’s excellent podcasts.
I know that Damon has told us to “Let go and move on”. But I’m not ready to do either. I loved the world of “Lost” and I can’t imagine not continuing to be engaged with it in some way. I hope others here feel the same and want to continue the discussions and appreciation, through a series re-watch or just by talking about their favorite characters and themes. I am thinking of starting a blog of my own to look back and explore some of the major themes in greater detail. I hope that there will continue to be an interest in following such endeavors.
And I know Damon and Carlton said they have ended “Lost” and won’t let it be continued in any form, but I truly hope they reconsider this. The “Star Wars” universe has been broadened and further explored by a series of novels, and I would love it if the same could be done with the Dharma Initiative or the history of the Others. Our favorite characters’ journeys may be over, but I still think there is lots of potential for the Island’s history to be explored.
Does anyone else think they might change their minds about this and, if they do, would you be interested in continuing the adventure in some way?
Disagree with nearly everyone, the ending was cheap and an insult. It was emotional but not the story they led on for so many seasons. The writers prove they are only character writers and do not know how to think through plot holes and logic. The sideways story will not be better watching through again and you shouldn’t have to wonder to this degree as a story unfolds the first time on whats happening. For me the story ends with early season 5 as I will try to forget since then.
They did die in 815 crash and the island was their personal tests to the sideways:
-Couldn’t live through a crash like that
-no such thing as a magical teleporting island
-cant be a smoke monster
-people cant flash off a plane like in episode 316
I think people don’t want to feel this is true because it would cheapen the story, well too bad its the only logical way to accept this story as it was told. See if i were to believe they were alive since the crash it would make it worse because of the crazy off the wall stuff that happened on the island that just can’t realistically happen.
If they focused on the mythology and used scientific reasoning and answers I could believe they survived and this island could be a place, but no.
This finale has made huge impact on me! I sure wasn’t expecting that… Just rewatched it again…
I having trouble letting go.
I think I need my own FSW!
@greenberry, @LReene – When I read your most recent comments I realized why, although I loved the finale, it left me feeling so sad. Like you, I wanted our beloved characters to find peace and happiness, preferably with each other, in LIFE. I wanted Jack and Kate to have years together, rather than see Jack die on the island and imagine Kate mourning him for a lifetime. I wanted to see Des and Penny reunited again. I wanted Hugo, Miles, Frank, Richard ~ and yes, Ben, too ~ to be happy, whether off the island or on it. I guess I should have realized that wasn’t in the cards, since the sideways world included so many characters who we’d already seen die, but I thought maybe; just maybe…
I was so uplifted, watching everyone find each other and have their memories and connections come flooding back, that to realize everyone was dead was just kind of crushing. I still feel sad, silly as that is.
I’ve really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts here; it’s great to see so many smart and thoughtful insights, ideas, and differing opinions! Ryan and Jen, I can’t wait to listen to your podcast on Sunday!
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Whisper_transcripts
I forgot Claire! It would have been lovely to see her reunited with off-island Aaron. Although it was beautiful, in the sideways world, to see her reaction when Aaron was born ~ it made me imagine what it would be like to re-live my kids’ births and be able to hold their sweet, soft, little baby bodies again. 🙂
Maybe, like the folks who wanted answers to all the mysteries, I just wanted too much resolution for these characters that I’d come to care about so much.
Anyway, you feel the way you feel. I don’t fault anyone for the way they feel. I wish for everyone’s sake that they had liked the ending just because we are all so emotionally involved in this show. If I put myself in your shoes I can imagine your disappointment. You are a true fan and I am sorry that it didn’t work for you. My only objection has been when people have been attacking others for how they felt about it. Thank you for not doing that. It is nice that we can agree that we disagree and be done with it.
@Kate – I wanted to see Claire get a makeover. 🙂
@Islandsidhe (May 23rd, 2010 at 7:33 pm): My feelings exactly!
I’ve read this post (I’m from Portugal, so I only watch the show in the day after) and I couldn’t have said it better.
::I think people don’t want to feel this is true because it would cheapen the story, well too bad its the only logical way to accept this story as it was told. See if i were to believe they were alive since the crash it would make it worse because of the crazy off the wall stuff that happened on the island that just can’t realistically happen.::
Bob, you’re attempting to apply logic to a piece of fiction. Of course some of the things we saw couldn’t happen — that’s why it wasn’t a documentary series.
You’re free to dislike the final season, but disliking it because the things we saw “can’t realistically happen” is sort of like disliking the “Harry Potter” books because those “can’t realistically happen.”
I am having trouble understanding how the white light was revealed to all the people. First they said only the new Jacob could see the cave. Then it seemed everyone could see the cave.. If only candidates could see it then why did it need protecting it again …. If everyone could see it then why did no-one spot it before including the Dharma guys etc.. Is it something like the lighthouse, which exists but no one just happens to go there
@dharmaboy — The conclusion I drew is that the protector may permit others to see the cave.
I only got through 600 of the posts, so I apologize if this has been said already.
I have been listening to the podcasts since last year, but have only “discovered” the blog entries this season. I have enjoyed the camaraderie and everyone’s insights and even the crackpot theories.
I watched the finale on Sunday night – I was alternatively crying (Sawyer and Juliet’s reunion, the final shot with Jack and Vincent) and shouting out “what just happened” mostly about the on-island scenes. It was action-packed and emotionally compelling without being slurpy. I have to say it was damn fine writing that when Jack, Desmond and Flocke all went together to the light and each thought their actions would have a different outcome.
Up until the point that they got to the church, I was still excited about how they were going to make the two realities fit together as a consequences of the actions taken by the Losties on the island. But then we were told that the FS was really just a reunion of folks who shared some exciting adventures when they were alive.
I was disappointed. Season six showed us this new reality and seemed to point continuously to some kind of relationship between the on-island folks and their lives in the flash-sideways. Not to say that it wasn’t a beautiful episode and I haven’t enjoyed the ride, but I can’t believe that they didn’t make the two worlds have more of a relationship than the FS simply being a reunion of people who had spent important time together while they lived.
I watched it again last night and realized that Desmond’s dialogue with Jack indicated that he thought once he went down into the light he would “flash” into the other reality. Jack basically said no – this is the only reality there is. I guess I should feel better that Desmond had it as wrong as I did. But it does beg the question – in the flash sideways (or flash deadways) Desmond knew that they were in some version of the afterlife, but even though he had gone back and forth between the two realities, when he was explaining it to Jack, he didn’t seem to know that in the alternate reality, they were all already dead.
My feeling after watching it again (and bawling more than the first time) is that it was really an incredible, ground-breaking show. Not just the writing, acting, and directing, but the additional interaction afforded by DVR and the internet. I am happy about the time I’ve spent watching the episodes, listening to all the podcasts (ryan and jen’s are the best, but Geranimo Jack’s Beard is a close second) and reading this blog and many others. It was all incredibly well-done and won’t be easily replicated for some time to come.
@ Bob: I’m not quite sure what you were looking for. On the one hand, you seem to be saying that ytou would accept the existence of a sideways world and that the events seen during the show were all part of a test, thus suggesting that you can accept the idea of a test prior to entry to the afterlife. However, you also criticize a number of the basic premises underlying the show, including the idea that anyone could have survivied the plane crash in the first place. If you can accept one “unrealistic” premise, why can you not accept another?
Also, really … what scientific explanation would ever address all of the unusual events that happened on the show? If you were insisting on a rational explanation for what happens, then quite honestly, this REALLY wasn’t the show to invest in. While I have read numerous theories and explanations, I’ve yet to read any that address all the mysteries raised in any plausisble manner.
@greenberry thanks for the reply. it’s kind of silly, i know, but with the series ending, i hate to give this blog up. i just got here, but everyone i’ve talked with has been really cool. i don’t have much of a family, so i kind of latch onto things, people. this has that kind of feeling for me.
wow, where did that come from?
@aaron r — whether you have a small family (in your case) or a huge one (in my case), we have all found a second family in Ryan, Jen, and the podcast listeners/callers and blog readers/posters.
— thumbs up!
@Islandsidhe – Maybe Darlton will appoint a protector of LOST, who will make up new rules such as coming closer to an explanation of at least the relevance of some mysteries. Anybody willing to pick up that Oceanic bottle and drink? 😉
@rascal020978 – Lol. Loved your explanation of expecting rational explanations. Count me in as one who wants the explanations, then when we are handed them (like the whispers) I find myself disappointed.
I posted this already, but these blogs get filled in quickly. Doc Jensen at EW (Totally Lost) has a great recap of the show. I’m including the link again for part 1, and he has now posted part 2. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20313460_20387946,00.html http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20313460_20388269,00.html
I loved the finale – until the last 10 minutes…
@Kate – you said it well!
I really expected the magnetic energy (& Des) to reconcile the timelines in a more scifi, less emotional way. Maybe along the lines of a mind-bending Schroedinger’s cat paradox kind of thing…. ah well.
The LOST writers gave us their story and I’m fine with it. Yes, I wish they had taken a little more time. But most of all, I hope they inspire more good stories, especially since there is a dearth of such on tv!
Listening to the Transmission Monday morning helped me process what we did get for the ending, then I could function at work! damn, that uke made me cry again.
The comments here have been great reading. Unanswered questions are OK. I like mysteries – it will make re-watching more interesting!
Mahalo to Ryan and Jen! and to the YAE community for the intelligent discussions on the podcast and here!
@ Rascal020978 : Thanks for reading that exessively long post :). Let me try and see if I can answer your objection.
First, yes you are right in saying that the just-shot-in-the-leg Locke is really John Locke (not MIB). In mentioning that scene I was showing that Locke told Ethan, at a time prior to the original 815 crash, that he would be their leader and that Ben had appointed him their Leader.
You can understand how Ethan must have thought Locke was crazy. But he must how told Ben about it. Add to that event, Richard being told by Locke in 1954, again, that he was from the future and that he would be their leader, additionally he asks Richard to come and visit him after his birth in 1956 … which spawns Richards visits to the hosiptal when Locke was born and two more times, trying to assess the verasity of Locke’s claim to leadership. Richard subsequently asks Jack (when they were getting Jughead under the barracks) if he should believe in Locke, and Jack said yes, don’t give up on him.
So after the real Locke was shot by Ethan, Richard comes by to remove the bullet, give him the compass, tells him he has to get off the Island and bring back the Oceanic 6 to the Island and to do that he will have to die.
Richard, of course, is following MIB’s instructions – although he was not aware of that fact at the time. Richard’s actions towards the real Locke set in motion a series of events both past and future that culminated in Ben wanting to kill Jacob.
My point was that Locke, Richard and Ben were being manipulated by MIB following the events represented in time travel season 5, which had reprecussions in both earlier seasons and in “The Incident” when Ben killed Jacob.
I hope I am being clear because trying to explain all the machinations does lead to major nose bleeds. 🙂
If anyone starts up a rewatch at some time, I am in. Jay and Jack are starting one up at the end of August.
@Aaron R- That is very sweet of you to say.
@KL – only 600 posts huh, Slacker, lol. Seriously, the board is crazy this week and the only way I have kept up is go on several times a day to read the ones since I was last on. It is very overwhelming. I hope you didn’t have to do it in one sitting. 600 is a lot! I do wonder how Desmond can get to the afterlife, I think that if the afterlife is connected to the source and Desmond also has a connection to the source, it gave him access through the electomagnetism. I am glad you were able to come to terms with the ending. As I said earlier to Michael, I think I have to be choosy who I recommend this show to, as not everyone will like the ending and I don’t want anybody mad at me.
Whoops, broke my resolution not to theorize and it hasn’t even been a day yet. Can’t help it, theorizing is in my blood now. Wait till a rewatch starts, I’ll go crazy.
@Coolpeace – I wonder what would have happened it Ben hadn’t killed John and they all went back to the island and MIB couldn’t take him over.
@ Carol : I guess it would be business as usual between MIB and Jacob – Jacob’s game would continue. It only ends once, everything else is progress.
It’s so funny to see so many of you still theorizing about the mysteries of Lost. Don’t you get it? None of it will ever make any sense. They made it up as they went. There are no answers. It’s like the guy who smears peanut butter and jelly on a canvas and calls it art. People are afraid to question the absurdity of it for fear of being uncouth or thought naive. So they just go along with it. People will argue for decades over whether that sandwich mess is art or not.
Just before Piccasso passed away he did an interview for an Italian magazine where he admitted that his “art” was crap. He had done it because it was absurd enough to fool people into paying good money for it. He didn’t want to be an artist that lived poor and was revered after death. He wanted the money now, and was willing to sell out to get it. People still think his stuff is art and pay millions for it, even after the artist called it junk.
LOST is not art. It is a collection of falsehoods that fooled 1/2 of us some of the time and the other 1/2 all the time.
http://www.theonion.com/video/final-season-of-lost-promises-to-make-fans-more-an,14394/
It’s old but so bitter sweet. If you haven’t seen it, YOU MUST>>>
Idiot’s guide to Lost c/o Eonline
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b183078_idiots_guide_lost.html?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-kristin&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=twitterfeed&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_kristin
@Michael J – Have to disagree. There are themes examined in Lost that are deep and worth watching and contemplating. The story was the frame these threads were woven into and along. And it was all exceptionally well done. The answers are the ones YOU supply in response to the stimulus of the characters. As in life, it is what you do to the challenges presented that matters. The challenges presented made the story interesting, but were not the story. Stories about people, not things, are the greatest, and Lost was great.
A great deal of Lost makes sense, deep and meaningful sense. The numbers? Really? In the end they just interesting. Knowing ‘the answers’ will not make any difference in anyone’s life. Examining and understanding the MANY relationship, parent/child, life/death issues which were so creatively presented Will make a difference potentially. A life examined is a life worth living.
I find no resonance in a parallel with the work of Picasso. I, too, agree with Pablo concerning the importance of his work. But I have long maintained that Lost was not for everyone. That is why I enjoyed it so much. No spoon feeding.