Moving On

The End

Well, it's over. Last night was the series finale of one of the most complicated and compelling TV shows in history. The finale got about 13 million viewers, a bit underwhelming, but I think it's because a lot fans watched Lost in groups. Some movie theaters even showed the finale. The whole "live together, die alone" idea of the show really came into play. Below are my thoughts. Hopefully I won't drench my computer with tears, because even thinking about the show being over and everything that went down last night makes me cry. Just looking at the above screen cap, the last image of Lost, is blurring my vision. Needless to say, spoilers. But if you're a fan of Lost, I'd be shocked if you hadn't watched the finale yet.

I've been a combination of two types of a Lost viewer in the six years I've invested in the show. I've watched for the compelling characters and the plot twists, turns, and mythologies. Yes, I've been anxiously awaiting to find out why Walt was special, why Claire needed to raise Aaron herself, what MIB's name was (seriously, what is his name?), did Jughead work, etc. I think season 6 did skip out on answering a lot of questions but we did get some worked out, like what the island is for and what the four-toed statue means/why women on the island can't get pregnant (these answers were given subtly, but they were given). But the producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, did say that all of our questions wouldn't be answered; if the characters didn't care about the answers anymore, then we weren't going to find out. That makes sense. Lost isn't a world where everything gets answered and wrapped up nicely. That's not the reality of this world. And that's okay.

This show is about emotion and these characters, characters who we really really really care about. The writers were great at making us care. And because of that, I really cared that they have some kind of satisfying end. They have been through hell, don't they deserve some kind of happy ending, even if it's in a purgatory-esque setting? The flash sideways did end up being purgatory, a place where everyone was waiting for each other to die and reconnect. The reunions were truly the emotional core of the finale. You had your sweet ones (Daniel and Charlotte, Sayid and Shannon), your powerful, life-affirming ones (Ben and John, Jack & his Dad's coffin where Jack flashed on everyone. Plus he finally worked out his Daddy issues) and the truly heartwarming ones that made me cry like a baby (Jack and the coffin again, Sawyer and Juliet, Kate, Claire and Charlie). We got to have our annual visit from Rose, Bernard, and Vincent. Kate made her choice (the right one), and Ben and Hurley had the start of a beautiful friendship. We saw some fantastic acting from everyone; no one was slacking. And I'm a sucker for reunions, so it was cool to see almost everybody back together.

I do have my qualms about the finale. Seriously, how is Shannon Sayid's true love? Yes, they had an amazing connection cut short, but I think she'll always be second best to Nadya, but whatever. The whole light and the plug thing was a little foggy, but whatever. I really could've done with more of an explanation about where the island came from and its mystical and healing properties. Why weren't Miles, Lapidus, Richard and Walt in the church? But whatever. I'm willing to let a lot of things go.

The final scene was unbelievably powerful and emotional. Jack making the ultimate sacrifice and going back to where it all started. The writers used the never fail plan of using a dog. Vincent returned to where we met him the first time and lay down next to Jack so he wouldn't die alone. Jack clinging to life and seeing his friends fly away to safety. Beautiful.

I honestly have no idea how this show could've ended differently. Had they just done a checklist of answering questions, I would've felt jipped. It would've felt unnatural, like Benjamin Button. The point was, these characters' time on the island was the single most important thing that happened to them, not only because crashing on a desert island makes a big impact on a person, but this experience helped each character to redeem themselves, another core theme of the show. For them all to be together again, happy and redeemed is just fine with me. I'm glad everyone found each other.

I couldn't help but imagine spin-offs of Lost as the episode was winding down. One could be a spin-off of Hurley and Ben on the island. The second (and my favorite), Richard in the City. Richard did get on the plane, he's now a mortal, he's been living for years on the island. Throw him in a city and hilarity will ensue.

Overall, I'd give the episode a solid B. I do wish some things had been resolved and explained, but these poor people finally got some peace of mind. I really cannot imagine my TV future without this show and I'm really sad to see it go. All these powerful moments with Michael Giacchino's haunting score in the background really pulled at the heartstrings. Thank you Darlton, all writers, directors, producers, crew and actors for creating one of the best television shows of all time.