What do you think of Lost Finale?

[partgypsy]

What makes you think Vincent died? He was there just to show that Jack didn''t die alone. After Jack died he probably gamboled off to hang out with Rose and Bernard again.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 5/24/2010 8:07:00 PM
Author: HollyS
'What do you think of Lost Finale?'




????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

So, what, like they're all dead? And they've been dead? And this is purgatory?

Really? Seriously?

Geez, why not just bring in Jennifer Love Hewitt to steer them toward the light already. . .

Holly, I assume you watched the finale and most of the series? Please take a look at the link I just posted, or my post up there a bit. That link explains it so well, though.

Christian says that everything that happened was real. The crash, the island, the Dharma Initiative, the Others, the time travel, the Temple, Jacob and MiB; it all happened. Boone and Shannon, Eko and Libby, Anna Lucia, Paula and Nikki, really died when they died on the island. People died before Jack, and long after him.

Everyone meeting at the church was symbolic of the connected characters meeting in the sideways flashes/purgatory, repairing their flaws, and finding their way through their lost lives before they can move on - to whatever or wherever they were going next. The finale was about all of them finally letting go, gathering together, and moving on together because the events that transpired on the island drew them together in such a way that they all needed to wait for the others before they were ready to move on. Together.

Time is irrelevant in the sideways timeline. "There is no "NOW".

Desmond was their Jennifer Love Hewitt in the sideways flash, though.

 

[partgypsy]

Why do people saying they are all dead from the crash? It was very clear from the finale that everything that happened on the island was real, but the sideways world was not (a limbo until ready to move on). Most of the people you don''t see in the church were not on Oceanic flight.

They could have explained more about the mysteries and unexplainables that came up. To say the people were important, not the island, seems a cop out. I guess it''s saying all the dharma initiative people and Others that lived their lives on the island fighting for their respective causes and anonymously killed off were like really really not important.

 

[partgypsy]

Oops sorry Lauren we must have posted at the same time!

 

[jewelerman]

disapointed...and whats up with the commerial breaks every 5-6 mnutes!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 5/24/2010 8:34:52 PM
Author: jewelerman
disapointed...and whats up with the commerial breaks every 5-6 mnutes!

Agreed. My husband and I started our DVR 50 minutes into the show and we caught up with the wall at 1 hour 50.

But at $500k (or was it $750k) a pop, I expected it.

 

[noelwr]

as a sci-fi show ending, I thought it was a let-down. but emotionally I thought it was very fulfilling. I remember Sawyer walking past Juliet in the elevator and thinking, "Damn! So close!" I just wanted everyone to be together again.

how awesome was the episode about Jacob and the Man-In-Black with none of the original characters?

I also think it was quite clear that everything really happened except for the side-ways flashes. it was indeed a kind of purgatory that people in the "real world" saw while dying. Juliet, Desmond and Jack all saw it. if people think that the whole island life didn't happen, then why were Desmond and Penny also in the church at the end when they weren't on the original flight?

I love the way they got a lot of characters to return this last season: Rousseau, Alex, Ana Lucia, Boone, Shannon, Charlie, Libby, Vincent, Ethan, Martin Keamy (the guy who executed Alex on the island and then was the bad guy collecting the watch from Jin in the flash sideways)
too bad there was no Ecko or Walt.

I wonder if in the sideways flashes, people "connected" and remembered the island in the same order that they died. but then again Boone died before Charlie, but Charlie was first to remember... though he didn't remember everything until Claire gave birth.

 

[risingsun]

Date: 5/24/2010 1:27:53 PM
Author: zhuzhu

Date: 5/24/2010 1:15:45 PM
Author: risingsun
I think that when the bomb exploded, it opened the door to the sideways universe. When the characters died, they went there as a holding place and re-experienced their ''lives'' as they could have been before coming to the island. As they began to recognize each other, they started preparing to move on. The bond they formed on the island was so strong, given the power of the island, they chose to wait until everyone was ready to move on together. As it was revealed, not everyone chose to move on, e.g., Ben wasn''t ready.


As for the island, it was the cork in the bottle that prevented unrelenting evil from entering the rest of the world. Jack''s role as protector was brief. He was able, with Kate''s help, to kill the MIB by having Desmond briefly remove the cork. Then Jack replaced the cork and it caused his death. Hurley took over the role and chose Ben to help him.


There were many scientific questions that were left unanswered. I have thought, from the beginning of the series, that the scientific and spiritual aspects of Lost were intertwined. I am left believing that the island is still there.


Mr. Risingsun and I were crying into our tissues at the end of the finale. When Vincent lay down to die with Jack, I was a goner.

I like the interpretation you provided ! I did not realize Vincent lay down to die with Jack. What was the symbolism in that and why did Vincent have to die? (I don''t remember much about the dog, obviously!)

I don''t know that Vincent had to die, but my interpretation is that he did. He was with Jack when he opened his eyes on the island. To me, this scene brought closure to the original group on the plane. Although they died at different times, Jack was the last one to enter the church. I saw Vincent as a guide that helped him get there.

 

[risingsun]

Date: 5/24/2010 8:14:36 PM
Author: part gypsy
What makes you think Vincent died? He was there just to show that Jack didn''t die alone. After Jack died he probably gamboled off to hang out with Rose and Bernard again.

See above post. These are just my thoughts. It doesn''t mean that I''m right, it just resonates this way for me

 

[waterlilly]

I'm totally confused.

If everything that happened on the island was real - then the return of the oceanic 6 was real too, right? Aaron is really living with his grandmother now?

So, these people returned to this island - and that plane "really" crashed?

Most confusing to me is WHY and how was everyone called to the island in the first place??

They were meant to die there? Is was just a total coincidence that these people were all connected before getting on that original flight?

 

[karpouzi]

Date: 5/25/2010 12:37:48 PM
Author: waterlilly
So, these people returned to this island - and that plane ''really'' crashed?

It didn''t crash. The pilot landed the plane on the runway and the people returning to the island did all the things we saw them do on the island. The island stuff was all real, it''s the Season 6 sideways world in L.A. that was the afterlife.

I agree that the finale was emotionally satisfying but left a lot of questions unanswered. The problem for me is, I would have loved to see an explanation that tied all the mysteries together, that made me want to go back and rewatch previous seasons and see how everything tied in and what I missed. As it is, I see no reason to watch another episode of Lost. Not in a protest way, but just, there''s nothing to watch for.

 

[waterlilly]

My biggest question is why were they all on that Oceanic flight together in the first place? WHY? How is it that all those people that didn't know each other ended up having all these connections and ended up crashing on the island? Just so they could get to know each other and die??

Were their whole lives being shaped to lead up to that moment because they had been chosen as "candidates" from birth - or from when they were touched by Jacob - or something?

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 5/25/2010 2:04:58 PM
Author: waterlilly
My biggest question is why were they all on that Oceanic flight together in the first place? WHY? How is it that all those people that didn''t know each other ended up having all these connections and ended up crashing on the island? Just so they could get to know each other and die??

Were their whole lives being shaped to lead up to that moment because they had been chosen as ''candidates'' from birth - or from when they were touched by Jacob - or something?

This is where interpretive reasoning and destiny vs. free will comes in.

Jacob chose them because they were flawed and imperfect; human. He perfectly orchestrated the events that led to the crash of 815 on the island, because as he discussed with his brother, he believes people are inherently good, and will make tough choices for the greater good; ie; Jack sacrificing himself to save the island and everyone on it.. MiB believed the opposite, that humans were easily corruptable and selfish, and so tested each and every one of those that Jacob brought to the island to choose as his replacement.

Jacob couldn''t have known from birth how each character''s life would play out. I''m firmly in the camp that believes that Jacob chose them at the time we were shown (when he touched them) and for all of the connections we know about. Jack being unaware of his half-sister, Claire, for example and for the connections that they would make once they were on the island; James and Juliet, for example.

I also read somewhere (I can''t remember where, now) that the producers meant for the series to be Desmond and Penny''s love story. I feel like they left some their closure on the cutting room floor if that was the case, though the scene at the stadium had me in tears.

 

[waterlilly]

I feel like I was really hoping for an ending that would give explanations for things and make me want to go back and re-watch episodes, you know? Like in the movie The Usual Suspects. That ending was "OH! Now things make sense!" and it was fun to go back and re-watch the movie to pick up on and understand things that didn''t quite make sense the first time through.

Obviously that movie and Lost are very different, but I just feel like all the previous seasons are sort of pointless - all that focus on the details of Dharma and those characters, all the time I spent wondering what all the stations were for etc., who Rousseau was, who Widmore was, and the others, etc. etc., and nothing is any clearer. I think someone else said it too - there''s no point in going back to watch any of the other seasons again. Nothing gets answered in the end anyway.

 

[ChinaCat]

I actually disagree for two reasons.

One, I recently re-watched the entire series (before Season 6) and even knowing the outcome or the "answers", it was even better this time. The story, the acting, the writing, it is exceptional and stands alone.

Two, I do want to go back and watch through the filter of what we have learned. For example, now knowing what Smokey was, his "reading" of Eko and Locke now take on different meanings. The episodes relating to what we thought was Jacob in the cabin in the woods, now really knowing that was MIB/Smokey pretending to be Jacob. Anything to do with Ben and what HE thinks he is doing for Jacob and the "good" of the island when in reality he was doing MIB's bidding. Like when he says that our Losties "weren't on the list". Now we know they WERE the list, but Jacob's list. So is that MIB trying to figure out WHO the candidates are? There is so much new context.

I have been sitting with the last episode and trying to figure out how I feel about it. I was 100% emotionally satisfied and there were some brililant and beautiful moments. So well done.

I was not 100% satisfied with the wrapping up of the mythology, or the answers. BUT unlike a lot of you, I don't necessarily NEED those answers. I think a lot of things actually are answered, but it takes thinking and reading blogs and interpretation of your own to get there. This show NEVER fed us answers. The fun thing was always trying to infer what certain things could mean given the "clues" of the show. I also think that if you religiously watched this show, and kept up with analysis, a lot of what people say wasn't answered actually was. It just takes some digging.

I am starting to think it was perfectly ended. If you look at it in the context of this being Jack's experience and Jack's test, then all of those things were absolutely relevant. Dharma and Ben vs. Widmore were an integral part of the Island history but also Jack's experience. They did matter, they just weren't the end game. The series starts with Jack's eye opening and ends with it closing.

I see it this way. It all happened EXCEPT the Sideways world. Jack dies. Then he has the experience of the Sideways world, which as Christian explicitly stated, was a place created to find each other again, a place were they were "waiting" before they moved on. The island, the flash-forwards, everything was Jack's lesson and test and the Sideways world was HIS creation, his place where he had to "let go" to realize he was dead and move on. It was to some degree, his creation of the world he wanted and the man he wanted to be. A man that had a good relationship with his son AND his father. A man that could let go.

Which makes the first episode of this season more haunting. If you remember right after the turbulence happened, when the plane DOESN'T crash this time, Rose tells Jack "It's ok. You can let go now." Seemingly referring to his white-knuckle grip of the airline seat, but really the metaphor for the whole season. Again, here is where re-watching will have added meaning and context. Seeing this scene again AFTER the finale, Rose's words resonate on another level.

I was a little bit underwhelmed by the whole Jack/Desmond/Flocke final game of who was right about the light. Until I read an interpretation that pulled everything together for me.

So before the finale, the understanding was that if Flocke left the island, everything/everyone would cease to exist. Also that the light had to be guarded, and if the light went out, same thing. Then we got the finale and it seemed like nothing really bad happened when Des knocked the "cork" out of the light hole. I was like, so? But keep reading...

In Lost world, people are a blend of matter and spirit.
MIB/Smokey was ALL spirit (after being tossed into the "light"), which is an unnatural state but also means he can't be killed b/c spirit is indestructible.
In order to kill Smokey, he either had to be restored to his natural state (matter and spirit) OR convert him to ALL matter (spiritless animal) which can be killed.
When Des removed the cork, EVERYONE on the island (and by extension, mankind) was converted to this spiritless state of all matter.
Kate killed Smokey because he was now vulnerable.
Now there is a problem though because Des's uncorking rendered everyone spiritless. And in the Lost world, without a soul, they cannot pass into the next life, or the afterlife to be with those they love.
So the Island could be healed, but it required a sacrifice. Enter Jack.
Jack "re-corked" the Island, spirt/soul was restored to the Island and by extension, all mankind.

To me, this explanation satisfies my question about whether it all mattered.

I totally stole those thoughts above, so here's the link to the longer analysis. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20313460_20387946_7,00.html


ETA: I think whether you are satisfied or not also depends on what kind of Lost fan you are. If you were only watching it for the mythology/science/plot, then I can see how perhaps you feel like it was a waste. But Lost was never about that for me, that was definitely a fun part of it, but the series is really about our Losties and their redemption.

 

[lucyandroger]

Date: 5/26/2010 9:56:51 AM
Author: waterlilly
I feel like I was really hoping for an ending that would give explanations for things and make me want to go back and re-watch episodes, you know? Like in the movie The Usual Suspects. That ending was ''OH! Now things make sense!'' and it was fun to go back and re-watch the movie to pick up on and understand things that didn''t quite make sense the first time through.

Obviously that movie and Lost are very different, but I just feel like all the previous seasons are sort of pointless - all that focus on the details of Dharma and those characters, all the time I spent wondering what all the stations were for etc., who Rousseau was, who Widmore was, and the others, etc. etc., and nothing is any clearer. I think someone else said it too - there''s no point in going back to watch any of the other seasons again. Nothing gets answered in the end anyway.

This is EXACTLY how my FI and I feel and exactly why we were so disappointed in the end.

 

[Shoopy]

I''m just gonig to say that I agree with everything China wrote and give her a big

for the analysis.

Also,

Date: 5/26/2010 1:13:22 PM
Author: ChinaCat
But Lost was never about that for me, that was definitely a fun part of it, but the series is really about our Losties and their redemption.

I feel the same way and the finale actually made me really sad. I know it was the very last episode but finding out that they were all dead made it seem so much more final. As soon as Jack said he was dead, I missed him (and everyone else). Like hearing about the death of an old friend.

I loved the finale.

 

[princesss]

Date: 5/26/2010 1:25:58 PM
Author: fiery
I''m just gonig to say that I agree with everything China wrote and give her a big

for the analysis.

Also,

Date: 5/26/2010 1:13:22 PM
Author: ChinaCat
But Lost was never about that for me, that was definitely a fun part of it, but the series is really about our Losties and their redemption.

I feel the same way and the finale actually made me really sad. I know it was the very last episode but finding out that they were all dead made it seem so much more final. As soon as Jack said he was dead, I missed him (and everyone else). Like hearing about the death of an old friend.

I loved the finale.

totally agreed. After the first season I wasn''t watching for the Sci Fi elements of the show - it was about watching the characters.

I''m really sad that I don''t get to watch these characters anymore, but I''m really glad that I have Netflix - come August, a major re-watch is going to happen!

 

[zhuzhu]

Why did the light turn MIB into "evil smoke"? If it was Jabob that got thrown in the light , would Jacob have became "good smoke" instead?

 

[ChinaCat]

Good question and I think this is one of those things that can be open to your interpretation.

I think of it like this- what happens when you become pure soul/spirit is that you have this invulnerability and power. You can do with it what you want. For example, Smokey still held elements of his MIB desires and wishes- to get off the Island by any means necessary, including killing. So Smokey was MIB''s manifestation of pure soul, but not necessarily everyone''s. I think there is some evidence that Mother (of MIB and Jacob) was also a Smokey type soul monster. Witness the destruction of the first "others", no way the Mother could have slaughtered them all on her own. So perhaps that means that no matter what that is what you become. Remember when Jacob asked her what would happen if he went down there, if he would die, she said no something far worse would happen.

There was also some discussion about how everyone has a little bit of the light in them, but trying to possess it entirely would lead to destruction. Very Indiana Jones, but there you go.

I tend to believe, or at least I think the show wants us to believe, that Jacob, though flawed (and weirdly stupified to me) would not have been the same type of smoke monster had he been thrown down there. But who knows.

I wonder if there HAS to be a smoke monster. For instance if we assume that the Mother was and then MIB, now that he is dead, will there necessarily be another? I think no. Unless someone else arrives and desires to possess the light?

Btw, have heard that apparently the MIB DID have a name in the scripts, but the PTB chose not to use it. It was Samuel.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

ChinaCat - I think you're spot on in your posts.

The finale really was sentimental to me, because I've been so many of the places on the show. The scenery was almost a character in the show. Just because my husband and I have been such fans of LOST from the beginning, when we went to Hawaii in 2007, we visited a ton of locations where they shot the show - including our TTD pics which were shot on the original Lost camp site beach.

Here are the beach pics, but I'll see if I can dig up the Others Camp (Camp Erdman) or the Temple where Sun and Jin were married.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Hurley''s Golf Course in the Ka''awa Valley.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

The temple in Valley of the Kings (I think?)

 

[LaurenThePartier]

The Others Camp

 

[ChinaCat]

Great photos LTP!!!!! How fun.

Btw, I was born and raised in Big D.

 

[Diamond_Newb]

First ChinaCat thank you for the great and well written thoughts and explainations...I cant tell you how much i am right there with you!!

Second Lauren Those Pictures are amazing...i totally want to visit it on my Honeymoon. My FI is a big fan too.

Last I am sad it''s all over...i think i may re watch season one. The show was great.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Thanks, ChinaCat! I''m a Big D transplant. Do you ever get back here???

Date: 5/28/2010 12:58:47 PM
Author: Diamond_Newb
First ChinaCat thank you for the great and well written thoughts and explainations...I cant tell you how much i am right there with you!!

Second Lauren Those Pictures are amazing...i totally want to visit it on my Honeymoon. My FI is a big fan too.

Last I am sad it''s all over...i think i may re watch season one. The show was great.

Diamond_Newb, I highly recommend it, but staying a bit further away from the main cities and maybe staying on the west side of the island or on North Shore. Here''s the site W and I used to plan our trip - www.lostvirtualtour.com - we stayed at the Ko''Olina Marriott and had an absolute blast going to all of the shooting locations we could find. I have a ton more pics, but they''re not much different than what you can see on the site.

One sad thing I wanted to mention. The tree where Jack sees Christian burned down about 3 weeks before we were supposed to shoot our TTD pics. I had all of these great plans for pics near that tree, but sadly, that tree is no longer there.