One of the "Lost" "Last Supper" images released by ABC/Touchstone before the final season of "Lost" began.Whether you loved it or it were utterly confused by it, ABC's serial episodic Lost made an impact.
Very few TV shows could evoke such strong reaction over the plot, the characters and the mythology as Lost did during its six seasons on the air.
Now, it's time to say goodbye.
Before I get into this, I have to give some love to my fellow bloggerati out there who kept up with the expansive, and sometimes confusing, Lost universe. I am usually thrilled to visit your sites, look at your ideas and scream, however, I went on a self imposed TV show internet diet this year and vowed to ingest Lost discussion in smaller portions.
When I cooked up a few Lost theories of my own I happily worked them out with the WIFE -- who is also a devoted fan -- and during several guest stints on NDBmedia Blog Talk Radio with the Admiral, Zeke, Louis and Bam. They were kind enough to invite me along for the ride this final season and I appreciate it.
There's more to this Lost wrap-up with some spoilers after the jump (or a few spaces down the page).
Last night on the Lost For Lost show, we discussed the series
finale -- and what a finish it was. The series ending was fitting and
subtle. Not a blow-you-away finish like the oft-mentioned "M*A*S*H" or
a controversial one like "The Sopranos" or "Battlestar Galactica."
The last episode of Lost, simply titled "The End," was emotional, character focused, and considering the rocky season, a lot better than I thought it would be.
The New York Times reported that the finale scored solid ratings with some 13.5 million viewers tuning in Sunday night. That's two million more than this season's ratings average. Considering the viewership competition from the Web and DVR, that's no small feat.
Demographics prove that the six-year-old TV series resonated well among men, women, young and old.
As for the show, Lost managed to slip away into the white light of eternity without answering all of its famous, nagging mysteries, but did it really have to?
The geeks like me will focus on time travel, ancient Egyptian glyphs and exactly what kind of supernatural powers did WALT possess? We will dissect the electrical signature of the smoke the MAN IN BLACK transformed into and wonder whether it can be absorbed by the character Desmond Hume, who had equally remarkable abilities.
And the NUMBERS? What about the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42? Why were they lucky or a curse, or a key code to the salvation of humankind?
You may have figured all that out already with another theory. But does it matter?
I have seen a considerable number of show fans posting comments of praise for the series end. On the other hand, I have some friends and family aghast that Walt never reappeared (not even in the afterlife) and that the island's origin was never fully explained.
What the dissatisfied masses don't realize is that even if there are a few appropriate answers for the mysteries they want revealed none of those answers will make them happy.
I still get crap from QUASI-VIEWERS (the ones who watched three episodes four years ago) who complain about the damn POLAR BEAR. One, their opinion has to be taken with a grain of sand because they don't really watch the show, and two, the explanation that there was a research zoo brought to the island didn't satisfy them.
Jacob and Man in Black's origin episode left more questions and ticked off even more viewers I spoke with. And blood was in the water for those SOMETIME-WATCHERS quick to accuse Lost of "jumping the shark."
You mean the show with an island that disappears when you turn a wagon wheel? Really?
There are some points to the ranting about the shortage of solved mysteries, but the alternative would likely have been painful. Remember George Lucas' explanation of the force?
The writer-producers of Lost intelligently chose to let the fine details stay mysterious and return the focus to the characters.
An excerpt from a recent interview with series co-creator Damon Lindelof in Creative Screenwriting:
Was getting your answers more important than watching Ben and John Locke resolve their differences? Or seeing Sun and Jin together and alive again? Or watching Kate ultimately confess her feelings? Or seeing Jack and Fake Locke charge at each other on the cliff -- these physical and philosophical enemies in final combat?
I think about that and then I know my desire for more answers from writers Lindelof and Carlton Cuse don't matter as much compared to the story of these characters resolving their issues and making peace with their own existence.
While there were plenty of Christianity-influenced themes throughout the series, the flash afterlife concept of the "Lost" finale was also a nod to the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
A guiding shaman -- in everyone's case, Desmond and in Jack's case, his father Christian -- greets the deceased and asks them to embrace their own death and life before they can transcend.
After the eye closed and the final credits rolled on what will be remembered as one of the most influential TV shows to ever air, all my nagging questions seemed small.
In the coming months, other fans and I will mull over the details, but eventually, like the characters of Lost, we will have to let the mysteries stay mysterious, accept it is "The End" and move on.
Post edited for Robert's grammar and his butchering of series titles.
The last episode of Lost, simply titled "The End," was emotional, character focused, and considering the rocky season, a lot better than I thought it would be.
The New York Times reported that the finale scored solid ratings with some 13.5 million viewers tuning in Sunday night. That's two million more than this season's ratings average. Considering the viewership competition from the Web and DVR, that's no small feat.
Demographics prove that the six-year-old TV series resonated well among men, women, young and old.
As for the show, Lost managed to slip away into the white light of eternity without answering all of its famous, nagging mysteries, but did it really have to?
The geeks like me will focus on time travel, ancient Egyptian glyphs and exactly what kind of supernatural powers did WALT possess? We will dissect the electrical signature of the smoke the MAN IN BLACK transformed into and wonder whether it can be absorbed by the character Desmond Hume, who had equally remarkable abilities.
And the NUMBERS? What about the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42? Why were they lucky or a curse, or a key code to the salvation of humankind?
You may have figured all that out already with another theory. But does it matter?
I have seen a considerable number of show fans posting comments of praise for the series end. On the other hand, I have some friends and family aghast that Walt never reappeared (not even in the afterlife) and that the island's origin was never fully explained.
What the dissatisfied masses don't realize is that even if there are a few appropriate answers for the mysteries they want revealed none of those answers will make them happy.
I still get crap from QUASI-VIEWERS (the ones who watched three episodes four years ago) who complain about the damn POLAR BEAR. One, their opinion has to be taken with a grain of sand because they don't really watch the show, and two, the explanation that there was a research zoo brought to the island didn't satisfy them.
Jacob and Man in Black's origin episode left more questions and ticked off even more viewers I spoke with. And blood was in the water for those SOMETIME-WATCHERS quick to accuse Lost of "jumping the shark."
You mean the show with an island that disappears when you turn a wagon wheel? Really?
There are some points to the ranting about the shortage of solved mysteries, but the alternative would likely have been painful. Remember George Lucas' explanation of the force?
The writer-producers of Lost intelligently chose to let the fine details stay mysterious and return the focus to the characters.
An excerpt from a recent interview with series co-creator Damon Lindelof in Creative Screenwriting:
"Our suspicion is that the majority of people really care about how the characters are going to end up," he says. "Who's going to be with whom? Who survives? Who dies? Where's Jack on the axis of faith when the show ends? Those are the real answers that we care about, and we feel that if those are satisfying, then the legacy of the show will live on."
Was getting your answers more important than watching Ben and John Locke resolve their differences? Or seeing Sun and Jin together and alive again? Or watching Kate ultimately confess her feelings? Or seeing Jack and Fake Locke charge at each other on the cliff -- these physical and philosophical enemies in final combat?
I think about that and then I know my desire for more answers from writers Lindelof and Carlton Cuse don't matter as much compared to the story of these characters resolving their issues and making peace with their own existence.
While there were plenty of Christianity-influenced themes throughout the series, the flash afterlife concept of the "Lost" finale was also a nod to the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
A guiding shaman -- in everyone's case, Desmond and in Jack's case, his father Christian -- greets the deceased and asks them to embrace their own death and life before they can transcend.
After the eye closed and the final credits rolled on what will be remembered as one of the most influential TV shows to ever air, all my nagging questions seemed small.
In the coming months, other fans and I will mull over the details, but eventually, like the characters of Lost, we will have to let the mysteries stay mysterious, accept it is "The End" and move on.
Post edited for Robert's grammar and his butchering of series titles.
It changed the way we look at TV and moreover...ourselves. Many things in life can't be explained...and that's where faith and acceptance walk together. All around us...things change...whether by our doing...or beyond our control. The only thing that NEVER changes is DEATH...it is INEVITABLE! Having said that...I have come to the conclusion that relationships are by far the only "possessions" worth keeping, nurturing and preserving.
"And in the end...the love you take...is equal to the love you make!"...(the Beatles)...So true!
.........................................Billy
The "Lost" finale did not answer any of the big questions that the show engendered, and could have been (and probably was) written at any time, months or even years ago. Loyal viewers have formulated many theories as to what the big meaning behind it was, but this finale didn't address any of them. What about the importance of the baby Aaron? What about the giant wheel in the ground? It's too easy to just say that they were dead from the start, and then give the characters a "heaven" where they can be together. Over the 6 seasons viewers have come to expect much better from the show's creators. They took a vacation on this one. A big letdown.
Huge let down. It could have been so good. They could have blown us all out of the water like they did in the pilot. Nothing was answered. How did they all die? What was the point of the island anyway? What happened to Whitmore, Walt, etc. Lost took us on a road to open our imagination...the cool polar bear etc (yes the damn polar bear)...and then this is where it finally took us? I mean come on...they are all dead. Really? Seriously? That was a guess from day one but we were told that's not it at all-so of course we expected bigger, better and something that would blow our minds. But that's the best they could do? Horrible. The entire island theme turned out to be a wild goose chase and a waste in the end. What was the point of showing Sawyer as a cop? Jack as a great surgeon with a son and all of that confusion...if they were dead? Doesn't even make any sense at all! They lost the wonderful imagination. What a shame!
@Bethany. I apologize in advance if this sounds snarky. That's not my intention. I'm just trying to provide some matter-of-fact answers to your questions...
Everything that happened on the island was real. Everything that happened in the flash forwards and flash backs was real. All the characters were alive. The only timeline or reality or what-have-you in which the characters were dead was the Season 6 alternate reality. This was all explained during the conversation between Jack and his father.
Jack died on the island as shown on camera. Sun and Jin died in the submarine as shown on camera. Whitmore was killed by MIB in Ben's house as shown on camera. Kate and Sawyer were killed sometime after they left the island. Hurley and Ben protected the island for years, possibly centuries, then died.
In my opinion, the foundation of the show is that you're forever connected to certain people. That's why the flashbacks showed the characters interacting prior to the island, and that's why they needed to come together in the alt reality (after dying) to move on to the next stage, whatever that is.
The island wasn't a wild goose chase. It existed for centuries before and after Jack and crew lived there. And I thought it's mythology was pretty well explained.
There's lots of stuff to complain about, and I've done my fair share, you just shouldn't complain about things based on details you missed. :-)