Lost – The End
I’ve written my thoughts on the final episode of Lost on my Lost website, but I want to repost it here because it’s personal to me. I want to make a separate post on the fallout of the show, but not here, I don’t want to sully my utter love for it 
I was awake at 4am on Monday 24th May 2010. Any other date and this would be a depressing time to be awake. But today was special. The end of Lost. Was it worth getting up for? Yes. A million times yes.
It goes without saying that I am of course a huge Lost fan. You can call me a fanboy or apologist or whatever you like, I love this show flaws and all and what you are about to read comes from the heart. The reason I’ve not said this is a review is because it probably wont be all that critical. Of course the rest of this article contains major spoilers, read ahead at your own risk.
I’m not sure where to start to be honest. To stick with the less controversial I’ll go with the on-island events. When all’s been said and done, the on island events are almost trivial. That’s not to say they weren’t entertaining, they were. The Jack and Locke faceoff was satisfying, the danger of the island sinking gave everything a sense of urgency and there was still the uncertainty as to how it would all end. I’m not surprised that it was Hurley who would end up protector of the island, he had been my prediction for a long while. It was a touching moment too when he asked Ben to be his number 2. Mythology wise we got to learn a little more about the light at the centre of the island. Not enough to satisfy everyone as there are people that want to know why or how this ‘magic plug’ works, who built that, how did they know about it etc, the questions could go on forever. I think those people are missing the point of the show. Call it a plot device or a McGuffin, whatever you like. Just accept that this thing does what we’ve been shown it does and take it at face value. The island events end fittingly with Jack in the same place he woke up on the island, bringing things full circle. It wasn’t Jack’s death that turned on the waterworks (which to be honest were on and off all the way through), it was Vincent laying beside him. He didn’t die alone.
<div>
The ‘sideways’ universe is where the heart of the episode was. We finally learn what it is, and it’s something that I think will anger a lot of fans. I’ve already seen the scathing review in io9 and in various comments threads. It’s the same reaction to the end of Battlestar Galactica. The arguments seem to boil down to this: because the endings had religious/spiritual themes and things were left unexplained, that the entire show was a waste of their time. Even if people had been in love with the show, the final 15 minutes ruined it all. Going back to what I said earlier, these people are missing the point. The show has always been about the journey, not the destination. This show has always had mysteries, it’s part of what kept people watching. As each one was solved, a dozen more were created. The important ones were solved though, at least for me. To think everything would be solved in a show like this was to be naive. But apart from the mysteries it was of course the characters and their relationships that defined the show. The stories, the setting, the sci-fi elements are just decoration. Exciting, interesting decoration, but still just things to frame the meat of the show that is the characters.
The final mystery of the sideways universe was explained as some form of existence for those who have died and have yet to move on. Now let’s not confuse this (as some people already have) by saying that they were all dead all along. They weren’t, they died as and when we saw it on the show. The final season showed us where the characters went when they died. They lived out their lives in a world where they didn’t crash on the island. But to move on they needed to resolve their issues, which for most of them was to be with the ones they loved. Christian Shepard managed to explain where they all were with very few words. Like he said, some died before Jack, some died after. This is pretty much confirmed when Hurley and Ben acknowledge their time as guardians of the island.
Was this ‘limbo’ universe a satisfactory way of tying everything up? I think so. Considering what has happened on the show you can’t dismiss it for being unrealistic. Yes the producers made a mistake by early on saying everything would be explained scientifically. I think if they could time travel they’d stop themselves from ever saying that. You could poke holes at the logic of it, even by Lost standards. For example, are we to assume those that escaped on the plane led unfulfilled lives? Did they not go on to fall in love again? I’d have thought at the very least Sawyer and Kate may have got together. My point is the episode was no less enjoyable because of this.
Ok so far I’ve managed not to gush about The End. but gush I have done. Emotionally, The End is perfect. On all but the John Locke flashback/remembering moments I was in tears. Part of this was the choice of flashbacks, most of them being the most emotional and important moments of their lives but also the brilliant, heart stirring music by Michael Giacchino. Each of these scenes brought closure to those characters and to me as a viewer. They all got their happy ending, even if it was in the afterlife.
The End was quite simply brilliant. I could not think of a more perfect ending to the show. In a way I was in that church with them. I’d got the closure I needed, I’d seen all I needed to see, I had my happy ending and I can move on. I honestly don’t feel the need to debate things for all eternity, to pick apart the show for it’s inconsistencies, to list every mystery that wasn’t explained and come up with my own answers for them. I have been taken on the most magnificent journey, one that I can’t imagine being matched or surpassed for a long time.
Although I plan on writing a big ‘thankyou’ article to further praise those that made Lost over the years, I would like to say now a huge thankyou to Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and Michael Giacchino. You guys for me are the heart and soul of Lost.
A perfect ending to a brilliant show: The End.
</div>
No comments yet.