It's Monday morning and I'm at work 1 hour early (after having stopped for breakfast) because I did not sleep one wink. I was impressed by last night's finale of Lost. I had many thoughts and few expectations on what it might be but I was prepared for a horrible ending. I felt most of this season was not great. Come to think of it I don't think I have enjoyed one full season. All of them had their good and bad episodes. This season some of the explanations for things, leading up to the end, were just terrible. I absolutely hated the backstory episode about how Jacob and the MIB came to be.
Well last night was definitely emotional. Never can I recall a TV show bringing tears to my eyes and certainly not on and off for over two hours. I just wanted to jot down a few thoughts before I hit the message boards or download the Jimmy Kimmel Lost special and get other takes on what happened.
(DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SHOW)
Basically I think everything that happened on the island happened. I'm sure some people feel that they were in purgatory or had died when the plane crashed originally. I don't think that was the case. There are things that contradict each other, this crazy time line and alternate reality to deal with etc. which make it very hard to say just what was real and what wasn't.
I had a feeling from the beginning of the finale that this was going to be a funeral for Jack. That Jack's son was real a little Jack (and Locke mentions "he looks just like you"). Jack needed to come to terms with his relationship with his father. Jack fails his 'son' a few times and we see that while his son loves him, he feels disconnected. That is how Jack felt about his father. Jack needing to "fix" Locke was also something Jack needed to do in order to let go. Jack always had that need to take control and fix things even if people didn't want him to fix them.
I don't know if the finale could have been any better. Frankly I'd have been annoyed if they went on a rambling story to explain things like the polar bear, the wheel, Walt, Eko, etc. I'm VERY thankful that we didn't have to see Ana Lucia in the finale. There are questions that remain but the story as a whole was enjoyable and during the finale you almost forgot they didn't really answer much. I had always felt the writers were making this up as they went along and I still believe that. A good many holes and contradictions in the story that I'm sure some might dismiss as intentional and clever where I feel it was sloppy writing. A bit sad it's over but glad it ended now because it couldn't get any more strange and still feel good.
I hadn't watched Lost till the end of the fourth season. I had said I'd never watch it and only tried it because a neighbor/good friend insisted I check it out. I started and got hooked like any viewer going "what's going to happen now that there are the Others?" A friend of mine who has never really watched the show and caught the closing few minutes on TV last night is intrigued and said she might want to watch it. I never thought I'd watch the show in the first place but I might have to revisit it and watch with her. It would be fun to see someone else try to figure it all out and find things I missed along the way, maybe.
FOLLOW-UP:
So I just Googled "Lost finale" and found some blogs/reviews from people who disliked the finale and thought it was a slap in the face. They then go on to say they, a friend, or a family member knew they were stuck in purgatory all along and that they were dead all along. Clearly these people did not get it at all. That is not what happened. These survivors lived and for much of the series were on the mysterious island dealing with supernatural things. I have to watch it again but I believe Christian Shepard is the one who tells Jack that being on the island with those other people was the best part of his life. This is true for all of them as they led sad lives prior to the island. They all changed and found 'redemption', as many have put it, on the island. Even Kate who seemed as if she was never going to do a good thing put a bullet in Locke and saved Jack. They all changed and realized who they were deep down and it took them all to help each other realize it. At this moment, prior to discussing this with anyone, I believe that the season opening (after the detonation of the bomb) was the start of this side ways sort of "purgatory" where they were working toward some kind of peace and closure. Desmond being the constant between both reality and this alternate reality/limbo might have to do with him possible dying when the hatch blew or from all the electromagnetism. He woke up in the forest naked but otherwise unscathed. Does the naked symbolize some sort of rebirth? Was he sent back by some higher power to eventually help the others find their way toward realizing their lives on this island and the peace they made with themselves. That's what I believe is what happened right now. Again I'm sure some diehard fan can throw a few 'what if' scenarios and a few wrenches in my thinking but then again there was enough this-or-that contradiction throughout the show to leave it up to interpretation. Perhaps I'm forgetting something. In fact it's likely I am but this line of thought is definitely deeper and more satisfying to me than "they were dead all along and they were just making their way to heaven". If that is what you think then you should be disappointed because you wasted six seasons to come to a really basic and not very well thought out conclusion.
