LOST: The Final Season (Spoilers)

[weem]

This "the show is the characters" theme feels made up after the fact to adapt to what happened, rather than what actually happened with this show.

/shrug

I have been telling that to my brother (that this is about the characters) since Season 2. It's a character show. the things I have enjoyed the most were the changes in people from beginning to end. It was gradual and made sense based on what was happening.

The writers said it is about the characters, and their changing over the course of the show was obviously important to the story. You may disagree, and that's your right - but I think many would disagree.

Again, the entire ad campaign for the final season was focused on answers, not characters. Most of the fan base was built on mystery, not characters.

I can see that - Locke saying he was going to tell them (you) everything etc. But, I feel like it answered what mattered, at least to me.

Ask any random person on the street what Lost was about, and they will likely mention numbers, and a hatch, and experiments, and a ton of non-character-related themes. They will probably mention any of a number of season finales, which were mostly plot related, not character related.

Most random people off the street didn't see very episode I would imagine. Not that seeing every episode will do it for everyone, but most people who say, "uhh, I think it's about numbers? and a hatch?" probably didn't see much of the show - that's the kind of stuff you get from commercials.

Again, I liked the ending, but it was not enough. They needed to answer at least a handfull of questions.

I feel ya. If they made a website and said, "this site answers every question you could have", I would be right there reading it like most people. I would rush to. But, I don't NEED that. Some people do, and some don't. I'm not saying you do, I'm just speaking generally, since we're talking about people in general.

 

[Sir Brennen]

The island is a sort of purgatory, where souls get sorted out and then head for where they're heading (presumably the light).

[...]

Thus, everybody on 815 is dead, and all of this was just a wierd "I'm dead" dream.

[...]

Why did we waste so much screen time on the airplane escape, when it wasn't even going to matter?

Nope. The island was real, those that left on the plane left very much alive, Hugo and Ben live out the rest of their days on the Island. Things really happened. They really mattered.

The Sideways world was the self-created Purgatory of the Losties, where they were able to re-connect by recalling their *real* experiences on the Island.

The conversation between Jack and Des before Des went down into the light brought up the question very clearly as to whether their actions mattered. Jack insisted they did. His father's explanation in Sideways world confirmed this (along with the long sought "Attaboy" Jack was seeking from Dad.)

 

[John Crichton]

Nope. The island was real, those that left on the plane left very much alive, Hugo and Ben live out the rest of their days on the Island. Things really happened. They really mattered.

I'll just quote this cuz it's really important for anyone trying to put a finger on exactly what happened and where they all were the entire time.

It wasn't hell like Ricard said. Or an alternate reality like it seemed like where it was going all season. It happened. All of it. And it mattered.

 

[David Howery]

Lost reminds me a lot of The X Files... a long series of weird events, a back story that we get in bits and pieces, and an ending that doesn't explain all the mystery... but it's still a hell of a ride...

 

[coyote6]

Yup. The sideways-verse was all a collective dream of the individuals as they died, despite the fact that they died over a range of years (Hurley and Ben might not have died for centuries, if they followed in Jacob & Richard's footsteps). In it, they found their lost loved ones, and together prepared to let go and move on.

Meanwhile, on the island, Jack sacrificed himself, Hurley & Ben got to run the island (will Ben say, "da plane! Da plane!" if another plane lands nearby?), and Frank, Richard, Miles, James, Kate, and Claire escaped on the jet. Kate probably gets to be super-celebrity, having survived two plane crashes at sea.

Rose and Bernard (and Vincent!) live happily ever after on the island, presumably.

My one question: what happened to Desmond? He was on the island with Ben & Hurley. He didn't get on the plane, and they didn't say what happened to him.

I think that, with Hurley running the show, Desmond was able to get on the sailboat and sail back to Penny and his kid.

Kate shooting the Locke Monster was awesome. "I saved a bullet for you."

 

[Diamond Cross]

It was the flash-sideways that was the alternate universe.

But as for myself I'm somewhat disappointed in the ending.

First of all, Jack shouldn't have died. He was given the power of immortality by Jacob through spring waters. Now, I can see how removing the cork can temporary disrupt that, but he was point blank when it reset. And unless you have to drink from the waters again to restart the immortality, being there point blank should have been enough.

This same disruption allowed Kate to shoot smokey and kill him.

So I guess the rules were just things that Jacob made up. After all, when they were kids his brother said "when it's your game you can make up the rules". So I guess that's how Kate was able to kill smokey and smokey was able to kill Jack. Prior to this, smokey could not directly kill Jacob because that was the rule.

The smoke monster will never be fully explained. I halfway expected Jack and anybody else down there to be transformed as well. Or to see more smoke monsters come out of the hole after the cork was removed. So I guess there was only the one. Maybe you have to be killed, like Jacob killed his brother, in order to transform?

The sinking of the island will never be fully showed. I fully expected to see it sink in this episode.

If the springs give true immortality, Hugo and Jack shouldn't have been in the Church at all at the end. True immortality means you simply don't die and you'll even outlive the universe. So I guess longevity is the operating word. But this is also a matter of semantics.

I can see all others being in the church because I think that when the cork was removed it would've disrupted their immortality. But the difference is the distance. Remember, JAck was point blank when he restarted the well.

And the final kicker is....


The flash sideways was actually the afterlife. I tell ya, if my afterlife is no different than my life, then I will be really disappointed. I really wanted it to be a true sci-fi style alternate universe rather than an afterlife situation. But I guess technically the afterlife is some sort of alternate dimension. But that's a matter of semantics.

And of course, Kate's horse will never be explained.

Still, overall I liked the episode. So I give it a B.

 

[weem]

If the springs give true immortality, Hugo and Jack shouldn't have been in the Church at all at the end. True immortality means you simply don't die and you'll even outlive the universe. So I guess longevity is the operating word. But this is also a matter of semantics.

I kind of took the drinking from the spring thing as more a faith thing then a magical thing.

Jack was asked by Sawyer something to the effect of, "do you feel anything" (after drinking the water given by Jacob) and Jack said he didn't feel any different. And when Jack had Hurley drink, it was out of any old thing (the bottle) with no words chanted or anything. Hurley was not suddenly enlightened, and in fact he was more scared than ever.

If it were truly magical itself, anyone could have simply drank some up. I think it was more a show of faith, to drink from the cup - but that's just my initial thought.

 

[John Crichton]

If the springs give true immortality, Hugo and Jack shouldn't have been in the Church at all at the end. True immortality means you simply don't die and you'll even outlive the universe. So I guess longevity is the operating word. But this is also a matter of semantics.

It shouldn't be at all assumed that Ben or Hurley were immortal. They do the job as long as they can and nothing more. All the protectors eventually die and move on. Even Richard.

 

[Fast Learner]

It's quite possible that the immortality is passed on. "Mom" passes it to Jacob, who passes it to Jack, who passes it to Hurley, who passed it on to someone years/centuries/millennia later.

I don't see the flash-sideways as the afterlife, but rather as either a sort of temporary construct within an afterlife or, more likely in my mind, an opportunity for reflection before moving into a full-on afterlife (which could be a heaven-like thing, or reincarnation, or whatever). Remember that Christian Shepherd said it was an opportunity for remembering.

 

[stonegod]

My one question: what happened to Desmond? He was on the island with Ben & Hurley. He didn't get on the plane, and they didn't say what happened to him.

I think that, with Hurley running the show, Desmond was able to get on the sailboat and sail back to Penny and his kid.

Very, very likely. Another bookend (leaving the same way on the same boat he arrived on).

The flash sideways was actually the afterlife. I tell ya, if my afterlife is no different than my life, then I will be really disappointed.

Its not "the" afterlife but a "stage" in the afterlife. A Purgatory. Or Gehenna. Or the Shadowfell. Likely a few other religious (or RPG) analogs that escape me. Its an intermediary stage between death and the final beyond.