So it’s all over. And that means what will probably be the final edition of my Lost Thoughts, although it’s entirely possible that will change. I may have more to say later.
But let’s get down to business. I absolutely loved the finale and found it to be a satisfactory ending to one of the best shows I’ve ever watched on television. To me, there was an emotional connection that I had with the show that was incredibly unique that I haven’t experienced in any other show thus far in my life. In fact, very few movies have provided me with the immense emotional experience that this finale of Lost, and by extension the entire series, has.
Given that I’ve received several text messages, instant messages, and e-mails attempting to get my perspective on what EXACTLY went down in that finale, I’m going to try and do a quick summarization of it.
The flash-sideways were essentially existential flash forwards.
A crude but effective MS Paint job that hopefully helps to illustrate the sideways world.
Everything that happened to the characters in the show, with the exception of the flash sideways, happened to them in the same way situations would happen to you or me in the real world. They all lived their lives. Jack died saving the island and by extension the whole world. Kate, Sawyer, Lapidus, Claire, Miles, Richard, and later on Desmond, all escaped the island for the last time to probably never return. They lived their lives with the experience of the island in their past, forever changed by it. Hurley became the protector of the island and Ben was his new Richard. Richard was no longer immortal, probably as a result of Jacob’s death and that immortal connection was severed.
When all of the characters died in their own respective lives, years and years later, this alternate world was created. Essentially a purgatory of their own design. Their shared experience, which provided each one of these individual characters a redemption that they would have otherwise been unable to achieve without the aid of the island, allowed their souls to pool together to create this world that was similar enough to their old lives that it was relatively simple, once they were all ready, to enter into the afterlife together. Whether you want to call that heaven or nirvana or whatever I think is up to you and your own spiritual background. I don’t think the name for it is that important. As to why this “purgatory” was necessary in the first place, I think it was so they could re-experience their lives in similar, yet better, ways that would allow them to better appreciate their island experience, but that’s just speculation on my part.
Desmond kick started this process when he was blasted with the electromagnetic radiation by Widmore and his consciousness essentially “died” for a moment and traveled to this future plane of existence. When his future, purgatorified self became aware of his past life, he then became aware of his ultimate death and why he was there, bringing the most important people to the church to usher them into their eternal life. Had it not been for Desmond’s mission, they would have ultimately met the same result, it just would have taken a little longer.
Who knows how long this whole process took? That’s kind of a question that we as humans are unable to answer in any real detail. We have a very specific worldview when it comes to the concept of time, and find it very difficult to conceptualize the relativity of time and the experience of time. We measure time on Earth as one second per second. But that’s not necessarily how time travels in the rest of the universe, let alone alternate planes of existence.
I personally speculate that this plane came into existence possibly thousands of years after the final shot of Jack’s eye closing and his death. I say this because Hurley was now the island’s protector, and it’s entirely possible and plausible that his reign over the island lasted longer than even Jacob’s now there was no evil force trying to get off the island. So once they all died, and not before that moment, this place sprung up and they lived their lives through it until it was ready for them to leave.
Some still aren’t ready. Ben became cognizant of all of the terrible things he did in his life and wanted to work them out before joining everyone for eternity. Ms. Hawking/Mrs. Widmore didn’t want to leave and really wanted to stay with her son Daniel Faraday/Widmore in this plane, which is why she was concerned about Desmond becoming aware of the plane’s true nature. Charlotte’s still hanging around for some reason, even though she never really had issues to begin with.
Ultimately the point is that all the experiences they had, everything they did, happened to them. They all became reborn within this purgatory plane of existence and lived their lives there, too. Only when becoming aware of their living pasts did they feel completely at peace and became ready to move forward with their eternal lives.
My Personal Opinion
Personally, I didn’t really like this idea. I feel as if the show got a little too existential at the end and now season six needs to be completely reevaluated on the basis of the fact that the sideways world WAS in fact purgatory. Almost ironic given the fact that everyone thought the island itself was purgatory when the show started, a claim that was subsequently vehemently denied. Yet, what makes this situation different is that theirs was a purgatory of their own design. It sprung from their desire to want to enter into eternity together, changed by their vehicle of redemption: the island.
There were hints of this with the idea of ghosts and spirits that were communicable. But to bring the entire show into a completely separate plane of existence may have been a little much for me. Personally, I think it’s a little stupid to be honest.
Yet, ultimately that didn’t stop me from loving the episode which really hit me emotionally in ways that I hadn’t expected it to. Although the way in which it did was slightly cheap in that watching these characters reunite was essentially just a reminder of all the phenomenal experiences I had watching the show. Nothing new was really gained by it, but it worked by tapping into six years of memories with these characters and knowing all they went through, I was happy to see them all back together again.
Seeing all those loved ones become aware of their pasts and embrace what they now know was touching on so many different levels. And it was fantastic to watch.
I did feel the first half dragged in places, especially on the island. I kept wanting to see the sideways world move forward more than what was happening on the island. The plot itself wasn’t incredible. It boiled down to “have Desmond remove cork, kill Locke, take off on plane, replace cork.” Yet watching it all culminate was definitely a sight to behold.
The episode wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. This being Lost, I didn’t really expect it to be. I expected to feel differently when I finished the episode though. I expected it to be more “awesome”. It wasn’t the feeling of “awesome” I was expecting, but I loved it all the same, albeit in a completely different way than I had anticipated.
There are still plenty of unanswered questions, which to be honest, doesn’t really bother me. I feel that I can fill in the gaps with my imagination at this point and give perfectly satisfactory answers. Would I like to know more? Sure. Absolutely. If they want to open up and tell me the things I want to know, I’ll listen. But right now, I can’t even think of anything that I really want answered. I’ve even come up with my own personal theory about the island itself. In fact, here it is!
Sean’s Personal Island Theory
The island is a byproduct of the creation of life on earth. It has always been there and will always be there. I feel like it’s as old as time itself. It probably even killed the dinosaurs. The electromagnetic energy that radiates from the light keeps the destructive forces from beneath it from consuming the earth. Had Jack not replaced the cork, the island would have been destroyed and eventually all life as we know it would have been consumed by this energy underneath the island which manifests itself as volcanic activity. I don’t think that it’s deliberately malicious. I don’t think it’s an entity. Just something that will happen if not kept in check, hence the need for a protector of the light. One of the ways it’s protected is by binding whoever touches the light in the form of a Smoke Monster through the light’s electromagnetic energy.
Desmond’s ability to withstand electromagnetic forces made him literally the only person on earth (probably) who could have removed the cork. Without him, the cork stays in place since no one can get to it. The alternative, possibly cooler, way to do things would have been for Jack to become his own smoke monster and have a smoke monster throwdown. Of course, they would have just been ending up battling for all eternity, making things pretty difficult to end the show on.
After Death
If one completely neglects the flash sideways as a whole, and focuses only on things that happened to the characters during their regularly scheduled lives, I think the show ended fantastically. To end the show on the image of a dying Jack’s closing eye, as Vincent lie near him to comfort Jack in his final moments, as a complete contrast to the first image of the show being his opening eye after his brush with Vincent, truly brings the show full circle in a way that I never would have expected. The people on the plane go on to live full and happy lives. Kate helps Claire raise Aaron. Richard discovers the comforts of modern life. Miles does something. Lapidus probably keeps being a pilot. And Desmond travels back to Penny and his son, and they live their lives. While Hurley and Ben continue to do their thing on the island for however long it takes for Hurley and Ben to die.
The Legacy of Lost
I feel satisfied by the show. I’m happy with it. Do I agree with everything they did? No, not necessarily. There are clearly some continuity issues here and there, some questions that needed answering, but I feel as if those are forgivable. What’s not forgivable is where the hell was Walt? I was expecting some Walt in my finale, and I didn’t get it. That was kind of lame. And one final question, what the hell did detonating the hydrogen bomb even DO? It didn't create this alternate reality, and the incident was clearly something COMPLETELY different since it would be difficult to build the swan over a nuclear waste zone. I really wish I could have that answer.
I’m not accepting Lost as a perfect show. But I feel a sense of satisfaction now that it’s over. I think the ride was worth it. It wasn’t what I expected, but nothing ever is. The ability of Lost to inspire thought hasn’t ended, but I feel they’ve given us enough information that we can come to relatively solid conclusions at this point. I feel comfortable in believing the things in which I believe about the show until new evidence is presented to make me believe something otherwise.
This isn’t like after the season three finale when I couldn’t figure out what it all meant, because it could mean so many different things. Instead, I feel I have everything I need. While there is certainly still some ambiguity there, at the end of the day, I loved it. And really that’s all that matters.
The point of the show from day one was to watch characters who were all Lost in their own respective lives somehow find their redemption and become better people for the experience. Even the most despicable of characters eventually became bastions of righteousness at some point. And frankly, I can honestly think of no better protector of the island than Hurley. He has been the one character whose positivity and optimism in the lives of others is unquestioned. The island helped him conquer his curse of the numbers and in turn he will help others conquer their demons.
And Jack, father issues and all, learned how to believe in something bigger than himself and saved the world in the process. His empiricism and the way he constantly butted heads with Locke led to a new change in his personality. While this led to his ultimate demise, he was eventually rewarded by a shared afterlife with those who experienced island life with him. And because of that, maybe the flash sideways weren’t so pointless after all.
And with all that, we learn that it’s up to us all individually to face our burdens and have the courage to “Let go.” Because I believe that’s what Lost was all about.
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