*** Namaste! I’m about to dive into my feelings about Lost and the finale.
Look away if you prefer. You have been warned! ***
Good old Lost, eh! I know I’m veering wildly off topic from bows and boots but I just feel compelled to get this ramble off my chest! I also know it may seem completely ridiculous to make such a fuss over a TV show. I get that, I do. In fact, I can hear the eyeballs rolling as I type. ‘That Lauren, still banging on about that ruddy show.’ So if you’re in Team ‘It’s just a show, get over it already’ you may want to stop reading. Although, please feel free to stick around for a chuckle or two at the intensity of this!
I’ll admit it. I remain stuck fast in Team ‘I know it’s a show but I’m obsessed.’Throughout the six years of Lost, I have laughed, cried and jumped out of my seat in terror. I bought the box sets, joined forums and debated the details with friends around the fire. I devoured every nuggetty clue that the writers tossed to us and I defended them when my mates lost interest. ‘The writers have promised us answers!’ I wailed. ‘It’s all rooted in science, they have a plan, the ending is mapped out!’
My reaction to the finale is extreme, only because I loved the show. Like a crazy person. It pains me to say this (did I mention this was going to get ludicrously dramatic?) but my reaction to the finale was one of bitter disappointment and dissatisfaction. I was prepared to accept that we wouldn’t receive answers to everything but to leave so many big one’s up in the air was a blatant cop out, I thought. And the mysteries that were explained were done so ridiculously!
If you haven’t seen the ending but aren’t fazed about hearing what happened, this is what went down in a nutshell.
***YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO LOOK AWAY!***
Everything that happened on the island was real. Some people died on the island. Some made it off and died elsewhere. But ultimately, everyone died at various stages in their life and then reunited in a parallel universe/purgatory. They could only move forward to the afterlife together and the last scene was one of them, sitting together in a church ‘they had built’ about to ‘move on.’
We got to see everyone paired up again with Shannon snogging Sayid and Libby cuddling Hurley. Fans are divided on this outcome. While some loved the warm and fuzzy reunion of Lost souls, others, including me, did not. I don’t feel the show needed some cheesy get-together scene, which looked more like a wrap party for the actors rather than a plausible tie-up for 6 years of mystery. I know the show has been largely character-driven and that’s cool but then the writers should not have made such a meal out of the sci-fi mysteries.
I know some people are like, ‘Well, what did you want to see? Aliens, a Truman Show style dome or perhaps some weird underground village?’ Um, frankly, yes, all three of those would have done just fine! Anything would have been better than nothing! I had read better ideas for the ending in online forums of Lost fans. That sounds a bit harsh, I know, and I respect the writers enormously but ‘Everyone’s Dead.’ Nooooooooo….
Things we didn’t learn (or perhaps I missed?)
- What the island actually is
- What the significance of ‘the light’ was and why it needed it to be protected
- Why the Earth will be destroyed if the island is
- Why woman can’t have full-term pregnancies (A fascinating concept I thought)
- How Jacob could live so long
- How Richard could live so long
- Why children were so important: (The Oceanic kids and Walt being snatched away)
- Walt’s telepathic-type powers explained
- What the big deal with Whitmore was (He didn’t seem interested in the light, just testing Desmond?)
- What Smokie actually is
- What all the chain noises were about (There was a big deal made about sounds and noises and I was looking forward to those being explained)
- Why the weather stopped being freaky after episode 2
- And why that friggen polar bear never appeared again!
Sure, it’s awesome to explore the psychology of characters and what motivates their actions but hells, if that was all they were going to resolve, they could have set the show in a regular city. The sci-fi and mythical elements seem irrelevant now, like they were merely a bait to hook a larger audience. I didn’t feel there was any sense of doom in the last season because there were too many unanswered questions, right up until the finale. I think I would have settled for a ‘less cool and intriguing’ version of Lost if it had just made sense in the end.
I pretty much braced myself for disappointment as soon as the concept of time travel was introduced. And I started getting fed up with characters always answering each other with ‘You already know the answer to that’ or how about this old chestnut, ‘That doesn’t matter now.’ IT MATTERS DAMMIT, IT MATTERS TO US LOST NUTS!
So yeah, despite my frustration and disappointment (read: rage and devastation) I still believe Lost was something special. The first three seasons were spectacular and I look forward to re-watching them. The effort that went into the effects, props and scenery was staggering. Who can forget those creepy 70’s Dharma OBYGN rooms? Or that weird brainwashing room? Characters like Ben, Juliet and Locke were complex and fascinating and I loved wandering, ‘Are they good or are they bad?!’! But, now it’s over and I will sorely miss it. Perhaps my feelings of disappointment will change as I re-watch the show or take a few more days to digest it all. We’ll see.
This has been one completely self-indulgent rant and now I want to hear your thoughts and feelings. What did you make of the ending? Are you satisfied or are you cursing into your novelty Dharma Initiative cup of coffee? Do you feel they did answer some of the stuff I mentioned above? If so, please feel free to explain it to me. I would be very grateful!
Let me end on a lighter, happier note by reflecting on my all-time favourite lines from Lost:
Kate: Where did that come from?
Sawyer: Probably bear village, how the hell do I know?
Kate: Not the bear, the gun.
Sawyer: I saw a guy lying there with an ankle holster, so I took the gun, thought it might come in handy. Guess what! I just shot a bear!
Ha!
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