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REACTION
I’m going to be honest with you (I hope you wouldn’t expect anything less from me): when the finale ended, I did not have the emotional reaction as many did. In fact, I felt quite underwhelmed. Here I had been waiting six years to find out what the hell has been going on on this Island and for some reason I thought this finale would satisfy most of the curiosity that had been brooding in my over-imaginative mind since 2005. Now, that’s not to say the finale wasn’t entertaining or engaging emotionally. Actually, it was so well acted and executed that I had completely forgotten about all of the questions I wanted answered during those final two-and-a-half hours.
But when Jack’s eye closed and the final LOST popped up on my screen, all of those questions immediately rushed back and, I admit, I felt a bit cheated. “Wait…where’s that final creepy scene? Where’s that perspective that throws my whole perception of the show right out the window? How did Eloise know everything she did? How exactly did the MiB become the Smoke Monster? What about the whole Island pregnancy thing? What’s the story with Walt? This list goes on and on. So I can definitely sympathize with those who felt the end was a "cheat" or a "cop out," but the more I pondered the implications of what we saw in the finale, the more I let it sink in and the more I discussed it with others, the more I began to appreciate how this amazing series decided to close the door.
I’m sure many of you have been reading various theories on what certain scenes or lines meant and the analysis that follows is what I have take from other views and merged with my own interpretation of the show. I hope those who didn’t like the ending will at least read with an open mind and not forget the six (or five, or four, depending who is reading) years of entertaining television we were given. And I hope those who did enjoy the finale will find some new insights or springboards for their own discussions. The easiest way to dissect the finale, I think, is to discuss the Island versus the flash-sideways and attempt to bring them together. So…here we go, off into the jungle of mystery for one last time...
(Well, until the DVDs come out with special features and then I’ll probably be back to ramble a little more).
THE ISLAND
A few minutes after the finale ended, when I was left alone with my thoughts, part of me was pissed I didn’t get some friggin’ answers and part of me was so relieved not to have to worry about the 75 theories in my head or how they were going to resolve the series. Then I had a moment of "kensho" regarding this Season 6 plot device. The reason the flash-sideways felt so out of place was because it was out of place. I do not think the Sideways, in this particular manifestation, was an idea that surfaced very early on in the series.
There is a theory, which I shared with my wife after the finale aired and then found online when several others had come to the same conclusion, that the entire series was supposed to be the flash-sideways. In other words, the Island was the place where these people were to gather before heading off to their final (or next) destination in the afterlife. The Island itself was a purgatory of sorts (which it still remained, to some degree). However, just a few episodes into Season 1, after Jack says this line—“We all died three days ago.”—bells started going off in everyone’s head. “It’s purgatory!” “They’re all dead!” Many scoffed at the idea while others seemed to embrace it. I can definitely see, looking at the series as a whole now, why they responded the way they did. Remember? The producers told fans, “It is definitely NOT purgatory! Everyone is alive. All of this is actually happening.” Then behind closed doors they probably cursed themselves for making it too obvious right off the bat and began to concoct a different ending, planting lots of various mythological story lines in hopes that one would yield a new and satisfying resolution. In the end, they circled back around to the original idea, using their famous (and familiar) “flash” device to create the Sideways as a stand-in for this purgatory of sorts.
Now I’m not completely convinced this is what happened, but it is certainly as possible as anything else. And, like so many other things in LOST, we’ll never know for sure. But there are a couple of clues that make me think this is very plausible. The main one is Michael. I had a strange feeling that the answer to the whispers, which came earlier this season, was decided early on when the Island-as-purgatory theory was still "alive." Something about the way it was presented felt a little...forced. Was it an answer they kept because it was at least satisfactory and consistent with the appearance of whispers throughout the series? It was revealed that the whispers were the souls of those who cannot leave the Island because of their past actions (um, sound purgatory-ish, anyone?). But really, why Michael? Shouldn’t Ben have been bound to the Island? He certainly committed way more heinous acts in his life than Michael (who actually ended up sacrificing himself for the lives of some of the people he betrayed, right?). And what about Martin Keamy? That guy was possibly the creepiest and most violent man on the show, yet he shows up in the sideways with threats of even more nasty acts. Or is he simply a construct of the Sideways universe, like Jack’s son? Either way, something seems a bit off there. To me at least.
Anyway, I’m not trying to convince you that this is the truth. But I do feel it can be helpful to try to dissect some of the show through the writer lens as it might give us more insight into the realities of the story than the show itself.
Ok ok, so back to the Island. I will say that the Island story, even as several loose threads remain, was friggin’ awesome. From the episode where Locke and Boone accidentally discovered the hatch in Season 1 to the EPIC showdown between Jack and fLocke on the Island’s Cliffs of Insanity in the finale, it has been an adrenaline-loaded ride, full of mystery, adventure, tragedy, danger, suspense, and Kate in a bikini…I mean, Sun in a bikini….I mean…nevermind. It was a fun ride, right?
I’ve been reading posts on the various message boards about how the finale ruined the series and how people are going to sell their previous season DVDs on eBay as a show of their disgust. I feel sorry for those people who immediately forgot how entertaining it was to follow the story of these LOSTies for the past few years. Even if the finale remained as a disappointment for me, there’s no way I could turn on the show the way some of these “fans” have. There was what, 120-something hours of the show? And they hate the ENTIRE series now because the last two hours didn’t meet their expectations or didn’t answer a laundry list of unanswered questions? Oh well, I’m not out to persuade anyone that LOST was executed or ended in a perfect way. I don’t think anyone can argue it was a flawless show. Who of us wouldn’t haven’t enjoyed a few more answers about the Island? But we DID get a resolution to the Island story (whether you liked it or not) and, in my humble opinion, it was certainly an epic one.
THE SIDEWAYS
One of my complaints early on this season was the Sideways universe. It did really feel new and fresh at first. Yes, it was interesting to see Oceanic Flight 815 from a new perspective. Yes, it was entertaining to see everyone in a different light or playing a different role. Yes, it was fun to see Ben NOT deceiving the scheisse out of everyone. But I almost felt—and I’m sure I’m not the only one—that these characters weren’t quite the same characters I had gotten to know over the past five years. So I found myself watching with a detached interest as their stories unfolded. I mean, what were the stakes of this universe? Could they die here? Did it matter if they died here? Obviously, now that we are at the end of the series, these questions seem ridiculous (as do many others I had).
This, I feel, was the biggest flaw of the Sideways story. It didn’t feel like there was any connection to our Island world and there was no real build up to the reveal we received in the last 10 or so minutes of the finale. I think the Sideways would have been much more effective, and better received by the audience, if they didn’t sacrifice screen time just to hide such a hard “twist” until the last few minutes of the show. I'm a big fan of those hard twists but c'mon, it's the last season! I think I would have been okay with them giving us some hints this time! Let us come close to figuring it out! Don’t drop the bomb (which they HAD to know a LOT of people would NOT like) right before you dip out for good. I understand they wanted to keep a huge WTF moment for the end, but ya know, I would have enjoyed the last season even more if it was a little more straightforward and I had a least some idea where the Sideways was headed. (And it was definitely a WTF moment. How many of you thought we would be sitting here at the end of the series talking about PURGATORY?! Not I, said the Steve-O.) After being teased and led for five years, it would have been refreshing, in my opinion, to have a solid idea what was going on. But maybe that’s just me.
Having said that, I do feel the Sideways/afterlife dimension really brought resolution to our characters in a way I thought they wouldn't be able to do on LOST. To know for sure that these bonds they created last through death and to know that all of their suffering wasn’t in vain made me feel happy I stuck with the show through all the ups and downs. And some of those “wake-up” moments in the finale were just beautiful. The Sawyer/Juliet and the Kate/Charlie/Claire moments are the two that stick out in my mind the most. I also really liked the Ben/Locke scene outside of the Church, where Ben asks forgiveness for all the things he did to Locke (which includes murdering him, I assume). It was clear that Ben was not ready to move on. And after all the things we saw him do throughout the series, I wouldn't be surprised if he is there for a while. The Eloise/Daniel situation was interesting too. Apparently she disapproved of Desmond's influence in the waking up of the LOSTies and was concerned that Desmond might be working to make Daniel more aware of what was happening to him. I think it's safe to assume that Eloise, feeling eternally guilty for killing her son, felt she needed to stay and continue to support and love Daniel in ways she wasn't able to do in her other life.
The only reconnection I really, really disliked was Sayid/Shannon. After all that we have seen with Sayid and Nadia, I was shocked to see him with Shannon again. Now I know that Sayid and Nadia were never “together” but they had JUST brought her back into the show in the Sideways, as if they wanted to refresh our memory and build on that story again. Then a few eps later, he’s making out with Shannon. Ugh. Go ahead and justify away, but this did not sit well with me and I think it’s a perfect example of how the reveal of the Sideways as the afterlife took precedent over the importance and relevance of the Sideways.
I really thought we were going to get a more science fiction-y explanation to the flash-sideways. You know, something about multiple dimensions, where one must survive at the expense of other. Maybe there would be some merging of consciousness shared through the Island so our LOSTies could live on in some way. And I'm pretty sure that's what they wanted us to believe since there was a lot of misdirection with the introduction and handling of the Sideways. At the beginning of the season, we were shown that extremely painful scene of Juliet pounding the bomb, which then led us straight into the Flight 815x experience. They were planting little seeds of a reset, or a split timeline, and that's how they pulled the rug out from under us. But instead of a complicated, technical resolution, we were able to witness a unique bonding of our characters. A bond so strong it not only remained through their deaths, but even brought them together and guided them to their next destination.
I've heard some people say this resolution was ridiculous because it didn't have that technical ending and that the overtly spiritual explanation to the Sideways didn't fit the show. To me, that's what was so beautiful about it. Especially because spirituality has ALWAYS been present in the show! It was usually subtle but not always. How much Biblical imagery was shown throughout the series? How many of the show's literary references had spiritual themes? We even had Eko building a CHURCH on the Island! (I reeeeally wish we could have seen Eko's storyline play out, btw.) And I don't think it should have been a big surprise to see the afterlife explicitly manifest in the show, either. It wasn't that long ago that we were exposed to all of the Egyptian hieroglyphics and references to the underworld in the background of scene settings. I'm pretty sure that the hieroglyphics on the countdown clock in the Swan hatch in Season 2 stood for "death" and/or "underworld" or something like that. Yeah, that was definitely a clue. Back then we even shared theories about the meaning of those symbols and about how the Island is some sort of gateway for the dead!
On a somewhat random note, I think the most significant danger that happened when Des pulled the stone plug out its socket was that the door between the Island reality and the Sideways reality was closed, meaning those who died could not move on to the next plane of existence. The way this ties into Smokey is that the light needed to be put out so he could destroy the Island and leave, thus endangering all those who were dead and eventually those who are living. This act was all for his own benefit. And I honestly don't think Smokey was that smart because I don't believe he really thought through what would happen after he left the Island. He didn't even know what was across the sea! But anyway, if MiB killed all of the candidates and the light went out for good, Smokey could escape the Island and in turn keep that door between realities shut. The best way I can parallel this is to reference Christian theology. Shocker, I know. The light going out presents a situation that I felt was much like the state of the dead before the incarnation, life, and death of Jesus. That is, the gates of heaven were closed after the fall of Adam and Eve, until Jesus sacrificed himself for mankind, reopening the doors to Heaven. I think this is a direct parallel to Jack’s character on the show. Jack made the ultimate sacrifice to save his friends, eventually leading him to the Sideways world where he met up with his fellow LOSTies, who were all able to move on because of his sacrificial act to keep the door open and his awareness of that act in the Sideways.
So, quite simply, the LOSTies were brought to the Island to save the world. Not just the Island world but also the Sideways world. Wait…what? Yeah, that’s right! These two realities are much more connected than we may have initially thought. I believe the light at the heart of the Island is the same light that embraced the Church in the Sideways at the end of the finale. That light is the Source, as some have been calling it. The source of life, death and rebirth. So in a way, by passing through that Light, the LOSTies were all returning to the Island together. Didn't the image of the LOSTies in the pews almost look like they were passengers on a plane again, preparing for takeoff?
A FEW MORE MUSINGS
It seems this finale has split the LOSTies into two camps: (wo)men of faith and (wo)men of science. In the LOSTverse, the man of faith wins out, at least as far as answers go, and it seems like those are the fans who were satisfied as the series came to a close. Anyone who entered into the finale expecting definitive, technical answers to Island questions was justified in their presumption but left in the dark at the end; an interesting comment about the relationship between these two forces. However, if there is one thing I know for sure about LOST, it’s that we do not get definitive answers! To me, the most shocking thing about the finale is that it was so…final (as far as the character stories go, at least).
I DO think we got some major answers this season, even if we don’t fully realize it. But of course, most of them were vague, implied or very briefly addressed (in traditional LOST fashion). I know people wanted to see more Island history and I agree that would have been awesome. I really, really, really think they could have introduced the MiB/Jacob backstory WAY earlier. Seriously, even if we got the “Across the Sea” episode randomly in Season 4 or 5, we still wouldn’t have been able to guess what the heck was going to happen. And that would have also given them time to include other Jacob/MiB- or origin-centric episodes with even more explanations of Island questions never addressed.
Of course, I have no idea how difficult it is to plan, break and write stories week-to-week with as much depth and mystery as the people behind this show. It is so easy for us as viewers to point out the things the writers may have missed or didn’t address properly (in our opinions), but it is very difficult to imagine the pressure and intensity of preparing and sharing a story like this, especially one as scrutinized as LOST.
In the end, LOST was not just about the Island or who the first protector of the light was or who built the Temple or how 40-something people survived a plane crash. LOST was quite simply about the power of the relationships between these people. And we all know this show was an allegory for life more than anything else. In our reality of conscious experience on this planet (or “Island”), can we really explain how and why Love moves people the way it does? Can we explain how that Light inside of us compels people to lay down their lives for a friend or even a stranger? Do we know why it is we are so closely connected to some people in our lives? Can we definitively explain where this world came from or how it will end? Absolutely not! And you know what? I’m glad LOST didn’t try to answer these questions definitively either. It is not that this show provided profound insight into the answers to these questions, but rather presented them in a way that made us look at these larger issues again and more closely. It is a rare thing these days for a television show to deal with issues such as those discussed on LOST, and for that I am grateful.
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Well, this post didn’t really turn out to be as detail-oriented as I wanted, though it is a lot longer than I expected it would be! I was actually planning on addressing a lot of the questions that still remain in the show, to see if we could shed any light on them, but I just started writing and this is what came out. So, I kindly ask YOU to comment with your questions so we can continue the discussion and sort out some of the mysteries that are still nagging us. Or feel free to leave your favorite LOST lines/scenes/memories from the last six years. I know that will bring back some pleasant, nostalgic feelings for me and others who are still around to read this blog.
Now, for a really thorough and complete recap of the finale, I highly recommend reading Doc Jensen’s two-part article. He really helped me put a lot of things into perspective. He is probably the person who “gets” the show better than anyone else I have read or talked to. You can find part one of his analysis here and part two here.
I also want to thank everyone for encouraging me to write about the show throughout the years, even though I didn’t always come through. I especially want to thank my wonderful wife Jacqui, who has served as my editor for most of my blog posts. It has been a great experience for me to share my theories and ramblings with you and, as I mentioned above, the community of LOST fans may just be the best part of the show. I hope you have enjoyed this blog as much as I did writing it. I don’t think we’ll have another show like this for a long time so let’s bask in the wake of LOST and be glad that our LOSTies FOUND their purpose and each other.
Namaste, my dear friends. See you in another life, yeah?
SFO
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