LOST Series Finale [Spoilery]
by zackawii - May 24th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.
On September 22, 2004 my family and I sat down to watch the pilot episode of a crazy show we had been seeing previews for. From the teasers all we knew was that a plane crashed on an island and there were survivors and that they were ‘Lost’. What we saw left all of our jaws on the floor. The island epic began with a premier you could never dream of topping. Watching Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard stumble out of the jungle onto that beach and the chaos that ensued really made you feel ‘in the moment’. You were just as confused as he was! My Mom had the foresight to ask on that first night “What did they lose?” and she couldn’t have been more prophatory. Our interest in the series waxed and waned over the years but we generally kept up with the happenings and I did my best to keep us in the loop by periodically checking out theories and reviews online. Last night we watched the series finale and had our collective minds blown by the revelations within. It was revealed that the characters were not just literally lost, they were lost in purgatory! Since the end of season five everyone has been living in purgatory waiting to make peace with themselves and move on to another realm and last night they finally got to do that. The emotional ending with everyone greeting each other like long lost friends in the chapel was great and the final scene of Jack lying down and dying in the jungle the series started in was a great way to bookend the series. A lot of questions in the greater Lost mythos remain unanswered still and this will surely leave a few fan boys disappointed, but overall I think the ending was very fitting for the characters and the plot the story told. What about you? Were you pleased or pissed at the Lost finale?
May 24th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I hate to say but your off a bit. They were not living in purgatory all of this season. The flash sideways was showing purgatory after they all died. All the events that took place in this last season took place in current time then the flash sideways took place soon after.
Remember all the “Flash sideways” took place after Jack dieing in the bamboo field. Their not one in the same.
May 24th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
I’m not sure if it’s just your wording or if it’s actually what you meant, but I would argue that the only thing that was “purgatory” was the flash sideways storyline. Everything that happened on the island this season as well as everything from the previous 5 seasons, actually happened. It was only the flash sideways of everyone living semi-normal lives in LA that was their version of “limbo” or “purgatory”.
And with that said, the “purgatory” stuff comes way after any of the island storyline in the timeline. Way after Jack died, after Sawyer, Kate and Claire got off the island via the Ajira plane with Miles, Richard and Frank, way after Hurley and Ben both passed away after protecting the island… years later, probably after most of the survivors had died of old age. So while it played out in sequence with the island reality throughout the season, it was definitely not happening at the same time.
Great finale though, I loved every minute of it and I thought it wrapped up the series nicely and still leaves a lot of things open to individual interpretation.
May 24th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
The more of these sort of blogs and posts I read the more I am thinking that the unrelenting and heavy emotional scenes are having too much of a bearing on people’s analysis of the ending.
The way they were done and acted was very good I think, I’m not one that is usually too moved by the cliche cheesey scenes but I even I really did find them well done, well most of them anyway.
This however, should not detract from the fact that it told us nothing! (And don’t foget how they have been advertising lost for a while now, all this “Questions will be answered” rubbish, lies!!). Was it a good twist though? Yeah, not too bad really. Was it well done? Again, you can’t find too much fault in it. Did it do justice to the massive journey that preceded it? No. What people seem to be neglecting to mention is the fact that the twist, the flash-sideways being like purgatory, meant that the Island was real life, these things happened and this place exsisted! So I want to know more about that bloody place! A light giving and taking the gift of immortality? Lighthouses with CCTV on your house!? Giant four-toed statues? Egyptian hieroglyphics? Walt has special powers? Jacobs bro turned into the black smoke when he went into the glorified hot tub? I didn’t want to just see the group sat together in the bloody church while an old man strolls off into a bright light!
May 24th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I though the series finale was a little far fetched, but then again what LOST episode isn’t. haha, I though the series finale was great even if it didn’t answer all of the fan boy’s questions about the series
May 24th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Ad, I understand you feel you were short-changed — so do I. I don’t want to feel like all I did was sit through a bloody church sermon.
On the other hand, a lot of what you are asking about has already been answered.
The Light — The “Mother” explained that it was the Light that gives happiness to the entire world, and that it has to be guarded. That each man has his/her portion of the Light. But that, given Man’s greed, if he had the choice, he would take all the Light in the world for himself. And then the Light would go out, and there wouldn’t be Light for anyone. Therefore, the Light HAS to be protected. It HAS to be protected from mortals. From humans. From Man. It has to be protected by someone who is Good. By someone who is godlike. Thus we have “Mother,” and thus we have Jacob and his brother. If you know anything about ancient mythology, you know many of the ancient gods were based on humans who turned into gods. Jacob and his brother (MIB) were humans who eventually became ageless and godlike, unable to be destroyed. What more do you want to know about the Light? If it goes out, it goes out all over the world, and happiness everywhere would be extinguished. Isn’t that plain enough?
The Lighthouse – Since Jacob is a God, and it is plain that he is now, isn’t he? Haven’t you read any mythology??? So clearly he is capable of travelling about, of all-seeing and all-knowing, and of such godly activities as writing people’s names on a wall, and of being able to see someone’s house. Why do you find this so unusual for a God to be able to do this? Whether or not you believe in gods is one thing, but do remember that Jacob is a god, and if you remember your mythology, gods CAN be harmed. They are not necessarily immortal forever.
Giant four-toed statues — Someone clearly lived on the island prior to them. Maybe from Egyptian times. From ancient times. What is so unusual about this? The island is part of the earth. It has been there since ancient times. People have been coming there since ancient times. It has a history. We don’t need to know the entire island’s history. Just as we know the earth has a history, we know the island has a history. I don’t see what needs explaining about this.
Yes, Jacob’s brother DID turn into black smoke when he went into the light. How many times did you watch “Across the Sea?” Only once? Did you not hear when Jacob’s mother warned him never, EVER to go down there into the light, not ever? Because very bad things would happen, things worse than death? Things like turning into a smoke monster, perhaps?
Not all of our questions on Lost were answered, and I myself was not satisfied with the preachy, churchy ending. I would have liked it if they had ended up surviving the island experience and all coming out on the other side, reuniting, and living happily ever after. Corny, yes, but I would have been happy with it. But something about making them all dead and having them all go into another life when I myself don’t necessarily believe in an afterlife felt a bit forced. I am mostly an atheist. I didn’t like the idea of the show suddenly popping up and yelling, SURPRISE! HERE’S YOUR RELIGIOUS ENDING NOW THAT YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING!
Again, I don’t mind some mythology, and even some spirituality. But not a full-blown, churchy, religious ending. That I wasn’t expecting. Certainly not from Lost. I was disappointed.
May 24th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
To Ad above, I understand you feel you were short-changed — so do I. I don’t want to feel like all I did was sit through a bloody church sermon.
On the other hand, a lot of what you are asking about has already been answered.
The Light — The “Mother” explained that it was the Light that gives happiness to the entire world, and that it has to be guarded. That each man has his/her portion of the Light. But that, given Man’s greed, if he had the choice, he would take all the Light in the world for himself. And then the Light would go out, and there wouldn’t be Light for anyone. Therefore, the Light HAS to be protected. It HAS to be protected from mortals. From humans. From Man. It has to be protected by someone who is Good. By someone who is godlike. Thus we have “Mother,” and thus we have Jacob and his brother. If you know anything about ancient mythology, you know many of the ancient gods were based on humans who turned into gods. Jacob and his brother (MIB) were humans who eventually became ageless and godlike, unable to be destroyed. What more do you want to know about the Light? If it goes out, it goes out all over the world, and happiness everywhere would be extinguished. Isn’t that plain enough?
The Lighthouse – Since Jacob is a God, and it is plain that he is now, isn’t he? Haven’t you read any mythology??? So clearly he is capable of travelling about, of all-seeing and all-knowing, and of such godly activities as writing people’s names on a wall, and of being able to see someone’s house. Why do you find this so unusual for a God to be able to do this? Whether or not you believe in gods is one thing, but do remember that Jacob is a god, and if you remember your mythology, gods CAN be harmed. They are not necessarily immortal forever.
Giant four-toed statues — Someone clearly lived on the island prior to them. Maybe from Egyptian times. From ancient times. What is so unusual about this? The island is part of the earth. It has been there since ancient times. People have been coming there since ancient times. It has a history. We don’t need to know the entire island’s history. Just as we know the earth has a history, we know the island has a history. I don’t see what needs explaining about this.
Yes, Jacob’s brother DID turn into black smoke when he went into the light. How many times did you watch “Across the Sea?” Only once? Did you not hear when Jacob’s mother warned him never, EVER to go down there into the light, not ever? Because very bad things would happen, things worse than death? Things like turning into a smoke monster, perhaps?
Not all of our questions on Lost were answered, and I myself was not satisfied with the preachy, churchy ending. I would have liked it if they had ended up surviving the island experience and all coming out on the other side, reuniting, and living happily ever after. Corny, yes, but I would have been happy with it. But something about making them all dead and having them all go into another life when I myself don’t necessarily believe in an afterlife felt a bit forced. I am mostly an atheist. I didn’t like the idea of the show suddenly popping up and yelling, SURPRISE! HERE’S YOUR RELIGIOUS ENDING NOW THAT YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING!
Again, I don’t mind some mythology, and even some spirituality. But not a full-blown, churchy, religious ending. That I wasn’t expecting. Certainly not from Lost. I was disappointed.
May 25th, 2010 at 10:24 am
so many questions should not have been presented if they weren’t going to be answered. it’s just annoying that the creators threw so much at us for no reason. they built us up just to let us down. that being said, the show was always about the characters and never about answering scientific/fantastical questions. i loved and will miss Lost