Beware, losties. Spoilers begin immediately…
I think I’ve been saying it all along—this season has been about bringing everything and everyone full circle. It started off with the little asides and hat tips to The Island in Sideways Land. And then as it began to close more and more, the connections got almost freaky. The last 10 minutes of the finale I must have said, “They’re killin’ me. What is going on?” about 23 times. I could not wrap my brain around it. It was definitely not what I was expecting. But it was oddly satisfying. Bittersweet and still a little painful when I think about the implications of what it means for our Lostie’s FIRST and REAL Island reality. But still…satisfying.
I’m not sure how to do a full and detailed recap of this episode. But I do think it would be fitting to begin with The End…
The Big Question and The Big Answer: What Happened?
Since the pilot episode people have been speculating that the Losties were indeed dead and The Island was pergutory or some part of hell itself. So, to discover that The Island was as real as real can be and Sideways Land was a limbo of some kind and they ARE all dead there was just…shocking. And fitting. And really kinda funny. I can see the writers laughing at us every time someone mentioned the Losties being dead. Smirking because actually, that was kinda true!
Even after Kate and Jack’s conversation at the concert and Ben and Locke’s (beautiful) conversation outside the church, I was still hoping for some kind of big care-bear-stare to The Island. Some kind of real and big reunion where they all descend into the Hatch and live happily ever after.
So, when Christian appeared and was really “alive” I felt duped. How could Christian be alive?! Then suddenly Jack realizes that HE is dead? Wait! They are both dead? How are they both dead and in LA? And the more Christian talked and explained, the more confused I got.
Jack asked, “Are you real? Where are we now?” which has been almost the same questions we’ve been asking for six years. Christians says, “There is no now. No here.” They just are. This whole of Sideways Land has been a place THEY created so they could get back together. Their time on The Island was the most important thing that has ever happened in their lives and they all needed to be back together. Not to accomplish something—just to be.
Christian tells Jack that they have all died–“some before you, some long after” but now they are all together to move on. So, when Juliet died. She died. Bitterly. When Charlie sacrificed himself. He did. He died. When Sawyer died…as an old man, or a broken con-man back in LA, he will be really truly dead. And everyone lived on without them. But when their eternal souls left their Island bodies, they went to Sideways Land, to wait for the most important people in their lives–their Lostie friends.
They’ve been living this “fan fiction” until they were all together. Just like their Island lives it had to be all of them together. And when they all arrived and all understood, the Shepherd really could lead them into the everlasting. Into The Light.
Wow. I feel like I just wrote a sermon.
Seeing all of the Losties together, hugging and smiling. Oh, it was a reunion. A beautiful-finally-this-is-what-I’ve-been-waiting-for reunion! And as they sat in the pews almost like they were sitting on a plane and were happy, smiling, looking ahead with the light overtaking them, well…it was just perfect. And complete. Our Losties were back togehter and redeemed. That’s what everyone (ok, I) have wanted since the beginning–redeemed Losties.
Now. Was that complete twaddle? Do we need to get to the real actual events? OK. If you’re still with me, I’ll try to accomodate…
Sideways Land (aka Almost Heaven)
DESMOND and KATE are in the car, Kate dressed for the concert. She watches an Oceanic truck pull up to a church to deliver CHRISTIAN’s body. Desmond signs for the body and when he gets back in the car Kate says, “Who died?” Desmond replies, “Christian Shepherd.” Kate laughs. “Christian Shepherd? Seriously?” (Can we say foreshadowing?!)
SAYID and HURLEY drive to a hotel and Hurley pulls a tranquilizer gun out of the glove compartment. He says, “Seriously? This isn’t ringing a bell? Me and you? Tranq gun? Hotel?” Sayid is bewildered and Hurley says he’ll do it alone, then. He knocks on a hotel room door to see a drunk Charlie. And he smiles. Oh, Hurley’s smile! It was like, “Dude. I haven’t seen you in so long. And I love you so much. I’m so happy!” But he didn’t say anything. He just smiled. And tried to get Charlie to come with him. And when that didn’t work–he shot him with the tranqulizer gun. Sayid is even more confused when Hurley throws an unconscious Charlie in the back of the Hummer.
Next stop for our dynamic duo is a bar. Or alley. Or some other shoddy place. Hurley tells Sayid the same thing he told him season one, “You’re a good guy.” And it messes with Sayid. He’s still the tortured individual (not torturer) who wan’ts to be good but can’t stop being bad. Suddenly, he sees a girl and a guy fighting in the street. He can’t stop himself and runs to the alley to do one last crazy-kung-fu-bad-to-the-bone move on the guy. When he reaches down to help the girl he flashes on her…on SHANNON. They remember everything and then kiss for all it’s worth.
I don’t even like Shannon and it was a tear worthy moment! (Seriously, no Nadia?) But the best part was BOONE leaning over Hurley’s passenger’s seat window with a bloody nose saying, “Do you know how hard it was for me to get her here from Australia?
MILES arrives at his dad’s concert. When he does, he sees Sayid in the Hummer. So, he calls his partner, SAWYER and tells him that the transport to County Jail never arrived. Sawyer jumps up and runs straight to the hospital (FINALLY) to make sure Sun is safe.
SUN and JIN are in the hospital speaking to one another in Korean. Jin tells Sun the doctor is on the way to look at the baby. And which doctor walks in? JULIET. How did I not guess this?! Oh, perfectly perfect! She speaks to them and then realizes that they do not speak English. She does an ultrasound (which by the way, for her flat stomach, that was like the best ultrasound I’ve ever seen in my life!) and when Sun sees the baby she flashes on another ultrasound done by Juliet–in a steamy underground hatch on The Island. She begins to cry and says, “I remember!” Jin hears the heartbeat and suddenly he remembers—rubbing Sun’s pregnant stomach in their tent, running to each other on the beach and then, yes, dying in the sub. It was heart-wrenching! And oh, it was beautiful. Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjim Kim were just amazing during this. You could see their love and relief and heart-break. *shiver*
Juliet says, “Do you want to know if it’s a boy or a girl?” The Kwons answer her in perfect English, “Her name is Ji Yeon.” Juliet is slightly confused but leaves happily. Jin and Sun just smile lovingly at each other.
Finally, Sawyer arrives at the hospital. First he passes Juliet in the elevator (ACK!) and then enters the Kwons room. They see him and smile a silly Hurley smile, too. Like they want to take Sawyer in their arms and hug him. Sawyer gives him his cop speech and the Kwons happily refuse. They simply say, “We’ll see you there.” and then leave the room.
This is when everything starts seeming a little more ethereal and super natural. Freaky.
Sawyer leaves the room and finds the vending machine where he buys an Apollo bar (of course!) but it gets stuck. While he’s trying to fish it out, who appears? FINALLY. Juliet. They quip and flirt about the vending machine and when she passes the Apollo bar to him, they touch. And electricity rips between them. They back away because the memories and emotions were so strong. Sawyer says, “Did you feel that?” Juliet says, “Maybe we should go get coffee sometime.” Typical Sawyer says, “I’ve only got a dollar, that machine ate my last one.” To which Juliet replies (everyone together!), “We can go dutch.” And here they touch again and suddenly aren’t looking at each other, they are looking into their memories–their Dharma house, their life together, the flower, the bomb, her death–all of it. And when they look into each other’s eyes again, it’s like they can’t believe it. “Juliet? It’s me. It’s me, baby. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” and they are hugging and kissing and crying and laughing. It was PERFECT. {would you be creeped out to know that I just wiped huge tears from my eyes?}
*sigh*
That could be the end for me, but let’s keep going…
Kate, Desmond, Jack’s son, Claire, Faraday, Eloise, Charlotte and some other random Losties are at the concert. (Yes, it is the Faraday/Drive Shaft concert.) When Charlie arrives on stage he can’t stop looking at Claire. She sees him and has a contraction. So, she walks away and wanders backstage (that’s handy). Kate follows her and yes, we have Aaron’s delivery Part 2. As Kate is instructing Claire on what to do, she flashes to The Island. She sees her doing this same thing and suddenly she remembers everything. When Claire finally delivers Aaron and holds him in her arms, she remembers. They are both laughing and crying when Charlie appears. Claire grabs his hand and he flashes. “Charlie.” “Claire?!” (I had forgotten how much I loved Charlie.)
And now for our final Ben and Locke conversation…
Locke arrives in a wheelchair at the church. He sees Ben sitting outside and says, “Benjamin.” To which Ben responds, “John.” And we know that they both KNOW. Ben is obviously remorseful and being very introspective. He apologizes for what he did to Locke. He says he was jealous because Locke was special. And Locke forgives him. They both seemed very honest and fulfilled. Locke heads inside the building and Ben decides to stay outside because “he’s got some more to deal with” but then suggests that Locke doesn’t need the wheelchair anymore. To which Locke responds by boldly standing up and walking to the church. It was lovely.
Hurley then pokes his head out and says to Ben, “Aren’t you coming in?” Ben, “No, I’ve got some more thinking to do.” Hurley understands and says, “You were a good number two.” Ben, “You were a good number one.” (We’ll get to that in a minute…)
Now what about our doc? Jack?
He has been avoiding the memories. He successfuly operates on Locke. And when Locke wakes up (too quickly in Jack’s opinion) he can already wiggle his toes. Which of course, reminds him of something else…Locke instantly remembers everything and when Jack has a flash to The Island asks him about it. But Jack thinks something is wrong with him. He backs away and says, “I’m going to see my son.” Locke says, “You don’t have a son!” But in his typical man-of-faith attitude, it sounds happy and hopeful!
When Jack finally arrives at the concert he sees Kate. He thinks he knows her and she they begin to talk. His memories are coming more but the man-of-science won’t let himself remember. She leads him to the church and says, “You can go around back. I’ll meet you inside.”
He obeys and when he enters he sees his father’s coffin. He touches it. And remembers. And then Christian appears…{and you can go back to the top, to see what happens then…}
Now. Back to The Island for the last time…
This can really be broken down into two parts: (1)Miles, Richard and Lapidus work on the plane while delivering funny one-liners and harried facial expressions. (2) Jack and unLocke fighting.
Because #1 is really quite uneventful, I’m just going to hit on the main Jack and unLocke story. Is that ok?
Jack, Hurley, Kate and Sawyer are heading to the “heart of The Island” to protect The Light. Jack knows that unLocke will be there, that his goal is to destroy The Island. unLocke and Ben are also headed there…yes, to destroy The Island. But on their way, they make a stop—to find Desmond. And where is he? Well, he’s with our last character-tie-up storyline, of course—Rose and Bernard’s hut! They broke their own don’t-get-involved rule to help poor Desmond.
unLocke appears and threatens to kill Rose and Bernard if Desmond doesn’t come with him. Of course, he goes. And a little too happily, if you ask me.
They meet up with our original Losties and have a very amiable conversation about what will happen next. unLocke, Desmond and Jack will travel down to The Light. And he will do what needs to be done (which no one but Desmond seems to know what that is) which will ultimately render either unLocke or Jack the victor of The Island. Either The Island will be destroyed or Jack will have the ability to kill Locke.
When they get to the mouth of the cave where The Light is, unLocke ties a rope to a tree while Jack ties the other end to Desmond. Desmond tells Jack he’s ready to do this because he knows he’ll go someplace else. He then tells Jack that there is more, that there is another life and Jack has a son. But Jack is steadfast. He tells Desmond, “Whatever happened, happened.” (I had to listen to that conversation twice and I still didn’t catch everything, brotha’.)
Desmond is lowered down by Misters Yin and Yang. He gets to the bottom to see a pool of light and an ancient carved stone in the middle. He walks into the middle of The Light and pulls on the stone–the stopper. And the light is sucked down out of the pool. The light is indeed out.
And The Island begins to destroy itself. unLocke says, “I guess you were wrong” and begins to leave.” But Jack punches him and unLocke is surpised to see he has blood on his lip. Our forever-and-ever Smokey is now mortal. Jack says, “I guess you were wrong.” They pummell each other a little more until unLocke bashes Jack on the head with a rock. unLocke leaves Jack in the pouring rain.
The rest of our Losties are just enjoying the pouring rain, earthquakes and falling rocks while trying to get back to the plane via unLocke’s/Desmond’s boat.
unLocke arrives first. Followed by Jack. And the best fight since Sawyer and Jack pre-bomb ensues. Finally, unLocke gets a grip on his knife and stabs Jack. A death wound. Just then a shot rings out. Kate shoots unLocke in the back. He tries to get up but Jack kicks him off the cliff. Our last view of him is a splayed broken man on the rocks. (So eerily similar to the many times we’ve seen a poor broken John Locke.)
The rest of our Losties arrive and they try to decide what to do. The Man in Black is dead but The Island is still destroying itself. Jack thinks he needs to undo whatever Desmond did. He’s vowed to protect The Island and he will. Ben says he will go with him, “If The Island is going down, I’m going with it.” Hurley says, “I’m with you, Jack.” So, Kate and Sawyer are the only ones going to the plane.
Oh, I was worried about this. No way are they going to get Kate and Sawyer back together. But it was unnecessary worry. Jack tells Kate to go back to save Claire. They fall into each other’s arms crying, kissing and murmuring their undying love. She begs him to promise they will see each other again. Then they go their separate ways. (Yes, I *did* have a tear in my eye!)
Jack is prepared to go into the cave but Hurley protests. He knows it’s a suicide mission. Jack explains that Hurley should be the next guardian of The Island. They seal it by fittingly drinking out of a Dharma issued water bottle.
Jack descends and finds a despondant Desmond. He ties him to the rope and says, “Go back to your family.” Then Jack turns to finish his job. He plugs the hole and soon the water begins to trickle in. A crying, hurting, dying, laughing Jack lays in the water and The Light pours over him.
Hurley and Ben pull Desmond out of the cave. Hurley realizes that Jack is gone. He doesn’t want to protect The Island. He doesn’t think he can do it alone. So, he asks Ben to help him. Ben is surprised…more than surprised. He’s shocked. He says, “I would be honored.” (And that’s what makes the Number One and Number Two comment so beautifully sweet!)
We leave our two Island guradians to see Kate, Claire (yeah, they grabbed her on the beach) and Sawyer catching the plane while Lapidus is just about to pull away. They are hopping the plane is going to take off and as they pick up speed…
Jack awakens at the bottom of the creek–in the same spot where the Man in Black died. He wanders through the jungle–it was a complete circle from his first landing on The Island–he’s wandering through the jungle, seeing everything almost for the first time. Realizing he’s saved The Island. Realizing he’s done his job…what he was suppsoed to do. He falls on the gorund, unable to go on and VINCENT shows up to lay next to him. And suddenly he sees Ajira 316 flying above him. He saved his friends. And then. He dies. We see his one eye close.
The Final Black Screen o’Lost.
Stuff To Talk About.
1. Jack. I love him. OK. I do. I’m sorry.
2. Island Time. So, time went on. We just didn’t see the end. Lapidus, Miles, Richard, Kate, Claire and Sawyer went home. Hurley and Ben stayed on The Island. Who knows what happened to them, how their lives ended. Kate and Claire had to figure out how to parent Aaron. Sawyer lived on without Juliet. Richard had to live in a world 100s of years after his own. Hurley and Ben became the kings of The Island. So heart-breaking. But it was also so lovely because regardless of their stories, they got their final happy ending.
3. Ben. I love him, too. His redemption at the end may have been my favorite. I got the feeling that he did not want to accept his “real life”. The world they created in Sideways Land showed him as a loving and good man. I think that’s who he really was. He got lost and blinded and twisted by the Man in Black, by Jacob and The Island. But somehow, somewhere he wanted to be that man he was in Sideways Land. So, as all his friends are making their way to the happy reunion and their happy ever after, Ben chooses to sit outside. To not be the golden boy. To not be special. But to deal with what he did. To accept it. And depending on the after-life-theology, he is either working out his redemption or doomed to be separated from his friends forever. I do get the feeling it was his choice–he could have gone with the Losties into The Light and been accepted. But he couldn’t make that choice then. I just loved that story line. I wonder when and why and how Ben remembered his former life?
4. Suliet! Suliet! Suliet! Suliet!
5. Stuff We Didn’t Talk About. Juliet and Jack were married in Sideways Land. Ben telling Hurley that he can make his own Island rules. Desmond talking about “leaving”. Where were Michael and Walt? Why wasn’t Faraday in the church? Why was Christian really The Shepherd? Mile’s duct tape quote. Charlotte and Faraday’s meeting.
Conclusion
I already talked too much. I doubt you even read it all. That’s ok. I had to get it out anyway. In the seconds following the episode, I felt weird. I didn’t get it at first. I wanted ANSWERS. Instead we got STORIES. And really, that *is* what I wanted. It was lovely that their relationships overtook The Island mythology. As much as I want to know more about Mother and what was up with Jacob and the Man in Black (including his name!), I love that it’s still an enigma. I love that there is the feeling of more heartbreak and more sadness and more adventure. But that the final redemption did come to light. That everyone (at least everyone I love) is together and happy.
From reading twitter last night, there are lots of haters. But Lost, you’ve been good to me. Thank you for a wonderful story!
Talk to me, Losties. What did you think? I’ll be responding in the comments (and probably leaving my own) because I know there is about 815 other things I want to say…
Don’t forget about me! I’ll be at The Disney Blog more but I’m also at ohamanda.com every day!
I would have been OK with the finale except for one thing. The bomb went off and Juliet said that “it worked”. I don’t mind leaving some questions unanswered (the cabin, etc.), but that was a critical plot point that was supposed to reset everything and they made it seem like it did. At the very least, they could have said that Jack was wrong.
Oh, I think they tricked us. Juliet was just channeling this new Apollo-bar conversation when she was dying on The Island. The bomb didn’t bring the Sideways Land…they were just showing it to us for the first time.
I agree, I think her “it worked” comment that Miles tuned into was her talking to Sawyer at the vending machine.
btw it was an Oceanic bottle that Ben pulled out and Jack filled for Hurley’s induction drink.
Jen VG
It was a wonderful ending and very satisfying for me. I like that they left some mysteries for us to carry with us from here. I will miss the show and watching the characters continue their journey. It was lovely how they brought out with this finale that it is about the people in our lives that is important and it is about the journey.
Awesome show.
I agree…I thought that the Nuke separated “time and space” and gave the whole gang a chance to live a life “island free”, to build memories–that the island in a way gave them a special gift of a normal happy life, but in the end they would all be sucked back into the main flow of time/space/reality once the Island had been “healed” or “reset”. This would allow the Island to continue to be the center, the place where people like Michael go to “whisper” they’re way to redemption. I thought the ending “off” island really took away from everything the first 5 seasons convinced us that it was–“the spiritual heart” of the earth, where good and evil strive for supremacy.
We found out a few episodes ago that Michael was one of the island’s “whispers” – unable to (or not allowed to?) move on.
And they just ignored Walt, as they have for the past few seasons, because he didn’t look 10 any more. (Remember when he was like THE MOST IMPORTANT THING on the show?)
I didn’t hate the finale as much as I expected to, but I still feel like the first four seasons were COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to the last two.
I know, I was just hoping since they brought Michael back and it was the last season we might get a nod to Walt. I agree that the last 2 seasons were different but I think they wanted to get away from the mythology of The Island…or maybe the mythology wasn’t as big as they made it out to be so they couldn’t sustain it to a big end? IDK. :)
I also wanted to see Walt again, and expected him and Michael to show up in the church. I’ve thought about it and 1) Michael is indeed stuck on the island with the whispers. Sad. 2) These people came together in this place because the events on the island were the most important events in their lives and the community they found there the only one they were ever really a part of. I like to think that Walt got off the island when he was young enough that he went on to have other, more important experiences and become a part of other communities, and that’s why he wasn’t there. It works for me anyway.
I LOVE THIS IDEA, Skipper! Perfect!
Pingback: Lost Finale: The End | ohamanda.com
about the freighter people not being in the church, at the concert, do you remember Daniel’s mother (can’t remember her name) asking Desmond if he was taking Daniel and he said not with me, I guess maybe the freighter people would have their own grouping towards heaven. Though it was a nice wrap up, I still had a lot of questions I was hoping to find out a bit more about, like more about the Others, the Other Mother, Jacob and Man in Black. I was surprised that though there were lots of religious symbols of other faiths in the church, there were a lot of Christian themes, Jack being stabbed in the side, him sacrificing his life so others could live, and others I just couldn’t remember. I was also disappointed there was no Michael and Walt, but not that I think about it, the Island must not have been there big life stage, but then again I would think it would have been Miles, he wasn’t there was he, yet Penny was, doesn’t always make sense!
I know, I wanted to make a list of who was missing in the church. And I wanted to see Miles remember. I love and adore Miles!! Yeah, Eloise’s words from the first time we saw her in Sideways Land and in this episode would be worth reading again. Hmmm. It’s too sad to think about no Miles, Faraday, etc. Maybe they are just on a different continuum/plane/etc. And since Sideways Land is not really true, I guess Miles as Sawyer’s sidekick isn’t real, either. Just like Jack’s son isn’t real. Nothing to mourn since it didn’t really happen. {That made no sense, did it?}
I loved it too! I thought it was a perfect ending.
My confusion (which you cleared up) was that I originally thought they all died when the bomb went off, so the whole season 6 on the island was confusing me…but the quote from Christian about they died before and after Jack, that makes sense now, they all died at their own times.
For Michael, I heard him say on Kimmel he remained on the island to whisper for eternity…my guess is Walt was grown and that just would have been sticky casting-wise.
As for who was in the church, Miles, Faraday, etc. weren’t in the church, I was thinking it was only the original passengers there, but Desmond’s girl (can’t remember her name) was there…so that confused me.
Chrisitan being the “shepherd” seemed a little off to me. He didn’t seem to have enough pull in the series for that, but I think it was in the recap episode before, they said Jack turning him in lead to his dismissal at the hospital, led him to drink, to Australia and eventually his death. So, I think it was really more about Jack and why he was in Australia more than Christian.
So glad to get that all off my chest! Great recap Amanda, I was waiting for it all morning! ;) I had dreams all night and really needed it to make sense in my head! I’ll stop…sorry that was so long!
Ha! Thanks, Sarah! Yeah, if this show is about Jack and his dad was the first person to die on the show (or rather, the only DEAD character on the show) then that makes him kinda special…
I believe Locke initially told Jack in the hospital room, “You won’t have a son!” instead of “You don’t have a son!”
Oh. Maybe. I missed a lot of that conversation…b/c he also said something good about “I hope someone does to you what you did to me.” And the whole thing about his bleeding neck I totally forgot to talk about! All that was interesting!
I was satisfied, but completely get why so many were not. To me, it basically came down to what you wanted to get out of the show’s ending. If you wanted all the scientific “whys” then you were disappointed. If you were like me, and always felt that, at the heart of it, LOST was a story of relationships, redemption, and faith, then you loved the ending.
Yes, I wanted more “answers” too, but in watching the 2 hour pre-show, I realized that the show’s creators had no intention of providing those answers. They kept saying, “its all about the characters and their relationships”….and at that point I knew that we weren’t going to get most of those “answers”….
And after seeing the show, I am ok with that. It just gives us more to talk about, which is what I suspect the writers wanted anyway. ;)
Absolutely. The whole of Sideways Land this time was just about reuniting relationships. If we want “answers” maybe in 5 years they’ll release LOST: the book and give us all the boring answers to who/what/where/how. But really, we kept watching for the characters, didn’t we?! Great thoughts, Nancy!
Oh, I love the idea that the series all about the characters and their relationships! Like real life, eh? We should focus on relationships and not all the “stuff.”
Great recap- for those questioning why Penny was there, I believe it’s because she and Desmond were soul mates- they wouldn’t have (and weren’t) parted for anything. Their Charlie wouldn’t have needed to go to this sideways/Purgatory. The others- Miles, Daniel, Mrs. Hawking), Mr. Widmore- they were all living out better lives there, and weren’t ready to move on (Mrs. Hawking knew exactly what was going on- the only reason she didn’t want Desmond to help the others remember is because she didn’t want to lose her son again). I felt each of them were tying up loose ends (Jack and his dad,and getting to have a “son” and some sort of normal life, Locke and his father, etc,) in their psyches or living out something they needed to do before moving on.
Just my .02- I thought it was truly a fitting ending and am sad to see it go.
Good point, Carey. My only question about that is: was Sideways Land a place where ALL souls go? Or was this JUST a place the LOSTIES created? Christian said something about how ‘they’ created it. You’d have to delve further into lost-lore to see if this after-life-ology is a one-size-fits-all…meaning, were Miles and Eloise REALLY there? Or were they just made up by the Losties to reunite? Was that whole Sideways LA ever really happening? Are they really waiting to move on or were they just smaller characters that helped our main characters ‘move on’? (Did that make sense?)
I loved the giddy smiles of Hurley, Sun, Jin, etc, when they figured it out. Loved that. Especially Hurley because you could tell he just wanted to hug the snot out of Charlie!
I am so glad you love Jack now! The scene with Christian touched me so much because he was afraid of being dead (like so many people are) and yet he realized that what lie ahead of him was better than anything he could ever have here.
Yeah, lots of unanswered questions. But I loved it. It was a great ending. Did you call it a week or so ago that Hurley would end up as Protector o the Island? Can’t remember if that was you or someone else I read. Anyway, I loved that.
I cried at the end because I’ll miss the show. And the characters. I won’t be able to see these actors in anything else and not think about Lost. *sigh*
It wasn’t me, but I did hear a few people call Hurley as the ONE. :)
You know, Heather, I was thinking of that same thing about what was ahead was better. I know Lost is not truth, but I really do believe that’s what the afterlife will be like—a reunion and SO much better than we can imagine. It’s just moving on to the good (best!) God has for us. (Too much theology?)
I cried the whole time, are you kidding me?!
Horrible last season. I can understand leaving some things ambiguous, but they left HUGE SMOKING HOLES in the story. For instance, what about the entire season about women not being able to have children on the island? What about last season that was all about blowing up the station? That amounted to NOTHING other than killing Juliet. What about the freighter sent by Widmore that occupied an entire season? Both Widmore and Ben were both “working” for Jacob, so why were they fighting? Pointless! They wasted 2-3 episodes in Dogen’s temple to start this season. What about the ash to keep the MIB out? Why did MIB get special powers when thrown down the golden chute but no one else did? Arrrrgh!
They gave us a lot of tear jerkers to take our minds off the fact that they had no way to wrap this up and couldn’t tie up ANY of their loose ends. The only answer they gave (what are these flashes) was one that they opened this season.
Really, Kurt? I mean, I totally wanted those answers, too. I just think the writers thought they were inconsequential. Like I said, the mythology got overshadowed by the characters. And actually, I think a lot of what we assumed to be “rules” of The Island is actually what Ben told Hurley, “Those were Jacob’s rules…you can do it how you want.” So maybe all that stuff–women dying, Widmore fighting, MIB’s powers were all constructs of The Other Mother and Jacob. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say about them except, “yeah, Jacob used them.” I dunno. I hope you could enjoy it a little, tho’ b/c it was a very gratifying finale emotionally! Thanks for your thoughts!
I never thought that some of the things could have been “rules” of Jacob, great idea!
This particular episode was very hard on me.
I didn’t get it. I felt disappointed and cheated. I tossed and turned and thought about it the whole night. Where was Walt and Michael? Where was Alex? What about Mr. Eko? What about Nadia?
When I woke up this morning, I scoured the web for theories and other people’s thoughts on what it was all about.
I read other people’s explanations. It eased my discontent, somewhat. However, the afterlife that they’re having is not MY idea/belief of afterlife. Perhaps this is what I struggle with most regarding this story.
Oh, I’m sorry you felt cheated! I have to admit I was a little concerned about a happy Sayid without Nadia. But whateves, they had to bring Shannon back, I guess.
Definitely this afterlife is a made-up LOST version of afterlife. So, I have to take it at that.
I wasn’t overly thrilled with the ending last night, but the more I think about it and roll it around today–it was great. The show was great. Everything was totally awesome!!! It’s annoying (to me) that some people wanted everything wrapped up in a perfect little package at the end. Not going to happen. Everyone kept saying “I want answers!” We got tons of answers to lots of things–and I’m not just talking about this season. I think the writers/creators were very good to us. Kudos to them for a great ride!
Now, who is going to host a week-long Lost event where we all come to your house and just watch and analyze Lost from the beginning to the end? I’m in. And, I’ll bring Dharma beer.
I’m with you! The more I think about it, the more I like it! And a week-long LOST party! TOTALLY fun. I’ll bring a boar…ew, just kidding.
Amanda you nailed it! Your explanation is the best and put most simple for all to understand. I don’t get how some people are thinking they all died in the crash. Were they watching the same show?
I love that our Island was real and what happened on it was as real as it can get. I gave up on getting all the answeres a long time ago and I was ok with that. Sure do I want to know more but it’s ok and not important, we can all keep it open to interpretation and discussion which is fun in the end anyway!
Is it geeky of me that I totally cried again while reading your recap? :) Thanks for a great run of chatting about the best show on TV and what on earth are we all going to do on Tuesday nights now? :)
Darby, you are making me blush! Yeah, I saw someone said that the whole season was really in Jack’s imagination and we finally just saw him blink and die in the last episode. HUH? The whole point is that it WAS real–supernatural, yes. Strange, definitely. But real!!
And uh…I totally cried reading my recap. Now THAT is weird.
I was so glad to read that you cried during the finale. I was blubbering like a kid near the end. As soon as I saw Penny and Desmond together, I lost it. and yes, I choose Jack any day of the week!! I think this season he has softened some and become more likable. I thought the ending was wonderful. But it sure will be missed!!!!!
Amanda, you absolutely NAILED it when you said “I didn’t get it at first. I wanted ANSWERS. Instead we got STORIES. And really, that *is* what I wanted.” (And yes, I at least did read it all.)
Damon and Carlton have always said, and reiterated Thursday night, that their aim is to tell a tale of RELATIONSHIPS, and that answers for all the little (and some big) nit-picking questions just wouldn’t be given – that so much of the mythology is built within our individual and collective minds anyway.
I give the entire series – including the finale – a big Two Thumbs Up.
Steven, you are so kind! I’m w/you–two thumbs up! It will be my favorite show of all time, I’m sure!
Grab a coconut, my #lost FINALE recap is up. Its long. And maybe not too insightful. But I REALLY wanna talk about it http://bit.ly/bVoMZp
RT @oohamanda: Grab a coconut, my #lost FINALE recap is up. Its long. And maybe not too insightful. But I REALLY wanna talk about it http://bit.ly/bVoMZp
Fantastic recap. *applauds*
I believe Penny was there because the island and everything that happened on it impacted her life greatly. Plus, Desmond was her soul mate.
I was disappointed at first because yes, I wanted the scientific answers. But after reading your recap, it helped me find closure. I can’t wait to watch it again.
The other ppl in sideays land weren’t ready yet. Not necessarily going to Hell, but they had to accept their death and be ready to “leave.” they weren’t part of the close knit group of people who wanted to leave together.
I don’t get why Jack’s dad got to be their “shepherd,” but oh well. I still wonder where his body is on the island. Lol
Thanks, Chrystal! Yeah, Penny is also connected to Widmore. So some combo of Widmore and Des make her a shoe-in. I still wonder if Sideways Land hosted any other real souls or if they were just flat characters in OUR losties redemption? Good thoughts!
I took it as though Christian was Jack’s shepherd, not necessarily the whole group’s shepherd. To me, Jack was the shepherd of the lostie group. Does that make sense?
This was a perfect ending. As a TV buff, I will say this is one of the greatest final episodes in the history of Television.
One of the reasons that I loved this season was the the writers didn’t go out of their way to answer mysteries. They answered what worked in the narrative. I was always in this show for the characters. Sure, the mysteries were fun to discuss, but the greatness of this show was following these characters and their actions for 6 years. One of the reasons that this finale worked so well for me was that I was rooting for these characters, and I wanted them to find their love, their happiness, and when they did, I was overjoyed.
I think your enjoyment in the finale can be summed up by a famous arguement with in the show. If you were a “Man of Science” you were a bit dissappointed that you didn’t get an explination to every little mystery. If you were a “Man of Faith” you loved the finale for what it was.
A couple commments on the Sideways/Afterlife.
-We see Keamy dead in the sideways. Does this possibly mean that he goes to the perverbial hell?
-When Hurely is talking to the dead off island, could they possibly be from the sideways reality after they “move on”, trying to push him back to the island to fulfill his purpose? I think back to his conversation with Charlie. I need to watch it again, but at this point I could see it as a big possibility.
-Also on Hurley, I enjoyed that he became a huge force in “waking” people up. I feel this relates to him being able to talk to the dead in the real life.
– To me, Ben didn’t go with the 815 group because he wants to go with his daughter. Almost everything that Ben has done after Keamy kills Alex is his guilt in allowing his daughter to be killed, and I feel it fits that he would want to be able to truly redeem himself with his daughter.
– I found it interesting that Desmond that Faraday would not go with him. I am curious to see who would be the driving force to wake up the freighter group. Would it be Faraday?
I think I’ll stop there for now. I’ll come back and put up my thoughts on the real life stuff later. I will miss LOST.
Your Man of Faith/Science comment is right on! I’ve always been in John Locke’s camp so to me, this was a perfect ending!! (And I think the writer’s wanted us in the Man of Faith camp!)
-Keamy. Definitely in hell. Ha!
-Hurley—that is an interesting thought. Maybe his dead were from sideways land. Hmmm….I need to think about that.
-It was just so spot on to have Hurley be a leader ON and OFF the Island. He didn’t think he could do it but look what he did!
-Ben and Alex. I didn’t think of her. That’s a good point.
-I just still wonder (and this goes w/Alex, too) about how REAL sideways land is. Maybe it ceased to exist after the Losties left?
AWESOME insight!
Maybe what flavor of spirituality you subscribe to does color the way you saw this finale. I loved it! I also think it was much quieter than I expected. There was plenty of action, but I felt like there was more time spent on happy events than I expected. I loved the characters recognizing each other and grinning their faces off!
Yeah, it was quieter. Good description. It’s true that the religion stuff has to be taken with a grain of salt depending on your background. And how the happy grins!!
Immediately after watching the finale, I was disappointed because I was looking for answers… lots of answers. This morning, after reading your recap and others’, I’ve come to the conclusion that Damon, Carlton and others did a nice job of wrapping things up.
The reason I was initially disappointed is because it seemed that much of the hype throughout the entire series was about the island, what it was, “where are we,” etc. Plus, remember the alternate reality experiences, the Oceanic Airlines web site, etc? They got viewers so excited and enthralled yet had nothing to do with relationships. They were all about the mythology.
There is still one question I’d LOVE to have answered. There was not an episode on April 27 (between The Last Recruit and The Candidate). When Damon or Carlton (I can’t remember which one) was asked about it, he said something to the effect of “we didn’t have enough episodes, so we took a week off.” I immediately thought that was strange, so I checked what was going on May 23. Interestingly, there are two reasons I found why LOST skipped a week to end on May 23: a) May 23 is Pentecost, and b) 23 was Jack’s number in the cave and lighthouse.
What do you all think? Is one of those the reason LOST randomly skipped a week to end on May 23 or is it something else?
Oh my goodness–a Pentecost question! Yeah, I saw Doc Jensen talking about the parallelism b/w the episodes and the holy days. I dunno. I have no theory on that. It DOES work but wow, those writers have to have some major Christian background to get all those dates right! :)
I was happy with the ending. Even with questions left unanswered.
The best way I can describe it is the show is about people trapped on a island. Not an island with people trapped on it. It was always about the characters. You can say the island was a character in it’s own right. But from beginning to end it’s always been the characters discoveries and curious natures that triggered the effects of the island.
Nonetheless I liked it. With or without some answers. I like to make my own theories sometimes.
Yeah! Good point–PEOPLE trapped on an island NOT an ISLAND with people on it. I do agree that the island was really The Island but our Losties is what made it worth knowing about!
Pingback: Heather
I am very satisfied with the finale. Yes, we didn’t get every answer, but it felt complete to me!
Pingback: Todd Perlmutter
I thought it was a fantastic finale and really I think it would’ve been really boring if it was two hours of explaining everything. Let the DVD special features answer the questions. They can spend hours explaining everything with flashbacks and without messing up the narrative.
One thought: I actually guessed that the Sideways-land was a form of purgatory BECAUSE Walt wasn’t there. He wasn’t on the flight at the start of the season. Neither was Michael and I figured that was because Michael was stuck on the island. I actually thought they were ALL going to die at the end of the finale and the sideways purgatory would be the big reveal. But maybe Walt just wasn’t connected to any of the people in the church so his soul had already moved on. Everyone there had somebody else to be connected to. Libby had Hurley, Penny had Desmond. They wouldn’t want to move on without each other.
I think that’s a good idea (seriously, you GUESSED sideways was purgatory? dang!)…Walt was not connected OR his most important moment was NOT the island OR he had already moved on OR possibly he had not died yet…wait, Aaron was there, wasn’t he? Hmmm…
You know, they actually explained most everything. “Jacob’s rules” were that you couldn’t have children on the island. Why? He was born on the island and not given a choice in taking the role, so he didn’t want anyone to end up like him or his brother.
Lost, though, was never about answers. Life isn’t about why the big bang happened. Its about the fact that it did happen, and what do we do now?
Yeah, the more I think about it and the more people bring up the questions of the “rules” the more I agree w/you—everything was just because Other Mother or Jacob was in charge. And I love your question at the end…it DID happen, so what do we do now? Great thoughts!
This was such an amazing ride. Thanks Amanda for your excellent recaps every week. I will miss them and all my Lost buddies :) There is so much to say. My recap is over here: http://notabowinsight.blogspot.com/2010/05/lost-end.html
Take care!
on my way to your blog…
Someone’s probably already covered this and I missed a few episodes (just got finished watching the finale) but did they ever explain what the numbers meant? That’s all I really want to know… ;)
the numbers…uhm…well…
For me, it was excellent. I never felt this emotional while watching anything on TV.
Yes, they have left so many things unexplained, but when I look at the show in general, I see it as the story of these people who crashed on the island back in 2004; and not the story of Others, Dharma Initiative or even Jacob. They were introduced along the show to make it more interesting and give us some clues about the island. They were never main focus of the story, rather the supporting parts or maybe “seasonal” focus.
In the end, most of the original cast died on the island. Few that survived continued their life on the island (Ben and Hurley) and off the island (Kate, Sawyer etc)… I think even more people would have been complaining if they ended it like this.
Main confusing bit was to see that everyone was dead at the end. But Jack’s dad explained that it’s not a “specific time” (or whatever he said). I rewatched that conversation at the end, and it clearly explains the flash sideways.
The reason we probably didn’t see some other people in the church was probably they belong to another group. And in Micheal’s case, I guess he is still stuck on the island and that’s why we saw it few episodes back on the island talking to Hurley.
Good points—I read Doc Jensen call their “group” a “soul cluster”…so the other folks who were not at the church were in another soul cluster. Or my original thought was that this sideways was JUST for the Losties…their experience was so big and so unique that they just HAD to reunite. And they made it happen–even in the afterlife. It’s prescriptive, just descriptive.
Great posts, I always enjoyed your recaps. I didn’t mind the finale, it seemed okay. I don’t mind that it was about stories and not answers, but in some ways that’s kind of a cop out o
Long time reader, first time poster, thanks for all of your excellent posts Amanda! To make a long story short, I am satisfied with the finale of a show I was dissatisfied with, if that makes sense… I thought the finale was pretty good, tears, catharsis and redemption and all that… Come to think of it, Survivor: Heroes vs Villians tag line “Return, Revenge & Redemption” would’ve been good for this show! Anyway, I didn’t expect the finale to answer most of the questions, or any of them really, since I’d listened to the Official Lost Podcast for years and knew their focus wasn’t really on the mysteries. I am not sure why that has to be an either/or proposition, but I guess that was too hard to work out. I didn’t mind that it was wrapping up the characters stories (or some of them anyway… Paging Mr. Eco..). I thought it’s fine to have an ER style ending with all the characters getting together for one last hurrah, Big Chill style. It was worth it if for nothing else to get to see Rose & Bernard again.
But now being able to look at the show in its entirety, my problem is not with the finale per se, but with the show itself. As Kurt pointed out, that vast chunks of the show were totally superfluous to the over arching story. I think that Cuse/Lindelof had a general idea of where the show was going, but over the years, especially in seasons 2-4 when they didn’t know the show would have an actual ending that they treaded water with the story. At this point in the show they added all these plot elements that had nothing to do with the over arching story they were telling. So they added a bunch of mysteries, characters and plot points that were extraneous, though some could’ve been more interesting that what we eventually got. Go back and watch Season 1, it is amazing television; the stories were tight, the characters were compelling, but after they got into the hatch it slowly went downhill after that.
When you think about it you can skip the entire Dharma Initiative, Widmore-Ben stuff, the Other/hostiles, Eco, Jughead, most of the stuff with the hatch, Walt, whispers, the Sickness, the Temple, Nadia, The magic whirl pool, the Oceanic Six stuff and so on. None of those things had anything really to do with the over arching story. Sure you could make excuses, “it’s Jacob’s rules” or worse yet “it had to happen that way” that veers closely to a cop out. It seems most of those extraneous plot points were added to the story like wet laundry to a clothes line. As more of these things are added, the line begins to sag under its own weight. If you listen to the excellent Bill Simmons Podcast on ESPN.com where he interviews Carlton Cuse about Lost, Cuse basically admits to that. I think most fans from the two camps (like the Others & the Losties!) who liked the sci-fi-mystery elements of the show and the people who liked the relationship aspect can recognize this weakness in Lost. The show was great in many ways, not so good in others.
Finally I’d say the best thing about Lost was that they created a smart show that didn’t treat the audience like they were idiots. It was full of subtle religious, literary and cultural references; rightly presuming the audience would get it. They knew the fans of the show were as smart as they were, and wrote a show that gave the audience an intellectual as well as emotional puzzle. They tried for a home run, but wound up with a triple, and that’s better than most shows, and deserves our, albeit slightly disappointed, admiration and thanks.
Great great insights. I’m w/you, I am! But I also think that’s what made the show brilliant—the crazy story lines just added to the amazing relationships these losties had. The craziness fostered the relationships. Like I said in an earlier comment what if the purgatory/flash-sideways is only DESCRIPTIVE? What if it was ONLY constructed by the Losties b/c their experience was so unique and so crazy and so weird that they had to be together at the end to “make it right” or commiserate or something.
Without the crazy storylines we would have just been on Survivor or Gilligan’s Island.
“Without the crazy storylines we would have just been on Survivor or Gilligan’s Island.”
– that’s one of the smartest theories/explanations I’ve read. Right on!
Wow Devlin, to each his own I guess. I completely disagree with your premise that all that stuff was “superfluous”. Some of it may not have been central to the overall mystery but it was all relevent. Some of it was used to define our characters. Who they are or how they changed or how those events changed them. Some of it was just used to push the story forward. You have that in every TV show. And remember, because this was a TV show, you had some subplots that were relevent to that season only, like you would have in any other TV show.
Ah, for @mommieswstyle and anyone else who needs to talk about #LOST some more…here's my recap: http://bit.ly/bVoMZp @TheDisneyBlog :)
Wow. I did read your whole recap – and all the comments. It was almost as good as the finale itself, I must say.
I was initially disappointed in the finale. I wanted to have more of the mythology addressed, even though I am a die-hard “lostie relationship” fan. I even felt kinda cheated: we were told that a spade was a spade when really it ended up being a club (as far as the sideways world goes).
I didn’t cry at all. Not a single tear. And I am a COMPLETE sap. I think I put myself on emotional hold because I was in a bit of denial that this was the end and I wanted to see how the sideways world and the Island fit together. Now, when I go back and watch it again, I suspect the emotion of it all will wash over me.
I haven’t read any recaps until now (almost a week later) because I wanted to process it on my own. I’ve come to terms with the finale and it’s explanations and lack of them.
It’s still the best tv ever. And your recaps were the best ever. And I love reading Doc Jensen, so that says a lot! :)
I find the vast spectrum of responses to the finale fascinating. I, for one, was sobbing like a baby. I “lost” my father just a few months ago and deeply appreciated the eternal perspective the LOST finale gave us. I loved that what they experienced on the island mattered, that their deaths mattered, and that all the pain and heartbreak and separation was healed in one glorious moment of eternal reunion. It was beautiful.
Comments are closed.