LOST began with the black credits fading into Jack Shephard’s right eye opening, while he lay there in the bamboo field, and it ended with Jack Shephard’s right eye closing, lying in that same bamboo field, fading into those same black credits. Why not just call the show ‘Full Circle’ or ‘Mirrors’? I’ve watched the last 30 seconds several times now, and the finale twice, and the whole series twice, and I’m satisfied with the end.
I’ve slowly come to a realisation over the years that The Island and the mythology that came along with it was just a backdrop for a show about people, and that more than came through in the finale. Sure I want answers, and I feel I’ve got more than enough of them, but for the diehards that watched LOST until the very end hoping that every answer would be presented in a box, nicely tied with a ribbon, I’m sorry, you probably didn’t get what you wanted out of the finale.
The Flash Sideways
Or “Collaborative Purgatory”? Those damn opening credits spoiled it for me and @marawlings, but when I saw John Terry’s name come up, I cheered, and it was a well warranted cheer.
There is no ‘now’, ‘here’. This is a place that you all made together so you could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you… To remember, and to let go… [you’re] not leaving, no, [you’re] moving on
The Flash Sideways may have seemed to start, September 22, 2004, but I guess only fools are enslaved by time and space, and we’re fools for thinking that way. I have no idea when the Flash Sideways are occuring, and I’m guessing no one does. Why start with Oceanic 815? Because that’s where these characters first met, where their journey first began.
Let’s be clear though, The Island is not Purgatory. They lived and died on The Island for six seasons, and I believe that the Flash Sideways only started occuring after everyone died in that timeline.
Jacob brought them to The Island because they needed The Island as much as it needed them, but even in death, The Losties weren’t done with The Island. They figuratively brought themselves to the Flash Sideways, because they needed this “reality” to come to terms with things and “let go”. It almost feels like The Island brought them redemption, but the Flash Sideways brought them resolution, and allowed them to move on.
Thoughts:
- I knew instantly, when I saw the meticulous effort made by Jack Bender to show us that coffin, that Christian Shephard was going to be more than a wooden box in this finale
- Absolutely loved the opening montage of our characters, on-island vs. Flash Sideways
- Michael Giacchino’s music delivered goosebumps galore. Damon and Carlton said it, Giacchino’s music is a regular cast member, and one with a lot of emotional pull
- “Christian Shephard, seriously?!” I love that the writers can poke fun of themselves, and it sure helped in breaking some of that early tension
- “That’s kinda true dude, he’s worse than Yoda”
- “I got a bad feeling about this” *screams all around*
- Rose and Bernard. Meh.
- The Jin and Sun “recollection” scene was the best by MILES. Nothing came near it in terms of emotional clout, and on second watching, without @amandamli sobbing uncontrollably next to me, I teared up. On that note, overall, I was disappointed with those “recollection” scenes; they felt way too rushed in most other cases
- “Doesn’t matter, James. We’re all going to the same place” “Then what?” “Then it ends”. In retrospect, quite the prophetic little exchange by Jack and Sawyer, on-island
- Richard getting his first grey hair! Awww! I can’t remember if @amandamli cried for him!
- Juliette is Jack’s wife in the Flash Sideways; as expected, it got a little cheer, but in the grand scheme of things, shrugworthy. Her moment with Sawyer however, fantastic!
- Locke lowering Desmond down a hole! Instantly thought of Kate and The Hatch!
- Eloise asked Desmond if he was going to take Faraday with him, and he said no, but if Faraday/Charlotte had recognised each other, I don’t think Desmond could’ve really stopped it. As it turns out, they both remained in the Flash Sideways
- God damn I cheered loudly when MiB stabbed Jack! And then squealed when I saw that cut on Jack’s neck forming!
- The John Locke “recollection”. Amazing!
- The Sun, Jin and Sawyer moment was welcome light relief!
- Lapidus, Lapidus, Lapidus. I kept saying that he’s only there to fly them off The Island, and well, he did that, but that subplot was the most underwhelming part of the finale. I kinda wish they’d all died on The Island
- Good lord Kate looked hot in that dress
- One last Ben and Locke scene, perfect as ever. There hasn’t been a moment on-screen between those two that has been dull
The Heart
Somehow, I didn’t think we’d see as much of “The Heart” of The Island as we did, so, again, I was happy with that! Desmond releases the light, all rules become negated, MiB sees blood coming from his mouth for the first time in a long time, and after a relatively epic battle, he dies, being kicked off the cliff by Jack, with of course, the bleedingly obvious parallel/shout-out to how MiB kicked Jacob into the flames at the end of season 5.
Releasing that light didn’t do much for The Island of course, and Jack ends his short stay as The Island’s guardian, passing over the mantle to Hugo, and sacrificing himself in the process. Hugo asking Ben for help, as opposed to Jacob’s douchebaggery/neglect, showed the way things should have been run on The Island, and when Ben’s happy, I’m happy! I don’t have as much love for Hugo as a lot of people seem to, and even before this episode started, I was wondering what his purpose would be, but in the end, I can’t argue with him taking over Jacob.
Vincent is Matthew Fox’s dog [a girl, at that] in real life, apparently. That scene, with Vincent slouching next to Jack, with the plane flying over, was magical.
The End
Does it feel like an ending to me? Look at the questions [non-rhetorical] I’ve raised in this post, as opposed to the other 17 posts this season. Can’t see many? There’s your answer. To me, this was The End, and I’m sad as hell about it, but I’m satisfied. There is nothing that I’m still thinking about, that’s still itching away at me. Call it denial if you want, and maybe you’ll see anger next, but right now, I’m happy.
Looking back at the post in general, it may look like it’s been structured in a completely random way, but this is literally how my thought process went, after I sat down at home to watch this for a second time. Adding this paragraph at a random place in the post adds to its randomness. I’ll stop saying “random” now…
Namaste
To Hugo [of the French developer variety] and Vantah, thank you for your hospitality!
To @marawlings, @amandamli, @gkshortee and @renny510, really, really glad to have watched this finale, and shared so many other LOST moments with you guys ^_^ Definitely a night I won’t forget.
Coincidentally, I think the @amandamli Cry Counter got to 8.
To Ariel and @jamiepride, the latecomers, by circumstance more than anything else, great to see you both there!
To everyone that’s read/commented on the blog, thank you! The conversations have been great, and it’s been a blast producing this verbal diarrhea.
To Damon, Carlton, JJ, and EVERYONE involved in the creation of LOST [I feel like an ass for belittling everyone else], once again, thank you for the greatest television series ever made, and the greatest television experience I could ever ask for.
There will never be as much theorising, speculation, love, dedication or hate directed towards a show. There will never be another television show like LOST.
c0up 
Great post! I was really satisfied with the ending too, thank god it wasn’t a "and then they wake up" ending #LOST
There is not much more, if any, i can add to the amazing blog above that i have just read. I was all encapsulating and a great read. (Even after it brought a tear to my eyes.)I to would like to day thanks to everyone that i shared this journey with, all the reading, water and coffee runs talking about lost. I has been amazing.As Christian Shephard said "To remember, and to let go… [you’re] not leaving, no, [you’re] moving on"Namaste
couP,Nice work once again. Below two sentences very well said:"The Island brought them redemption, but the Flash Sideways brought them resolution, and allowed them to move on. "
—> Jizz
"Does it feel like an ending to me? Look at the questions [non-rhetorical] I’ve raised in this post, as opposed to the other 17 posts this season. Can’t see many? There’s your answer. "
–> JizzI was reading all that lostpedia wiki thing last night and I think they sucked balls, you wrapped it up nicely. The scene that really hit me with a bit "HOLY SH!T" was when Hugo told Ben "you are a great number two", which threw me. Did Hugo, Ben, and Desmond come from the newly regulated Island to help with all this or did they eventually die and they are reminicing?
Not much to say as a newcomer to your blog, succinctly summarised!The most controversial part would definitely be the Flash sideways, and whether people are satisfied with being ‘tricked’ for a whole season.But in the end, it’s a device to bring everyone, including viewers, to an emotional closure that is absolutely necessary for Lost as a show.If they didn’t provide all the alternate resolutions as were in Flash sideways, and the final re-joinings in the finale, would you have been happier with the end of it all?My favourite detail to flash sideways is how it brings together people who may have died at any time, from early days shannon, jack in the ‘present’, to hugo and ben after they’ve taken care of the island. Yet all these people (like it or not) are the same people we’ve come to know/love.
I think they’re dead when they reach flash sideways.although/hence flash sideways is not part of any timeline, the only constant is that people have become dead in their own timelines, and about to move on.des however has a resistance to spooky space-time shit, so he’s able/tasked to bring everyone to revelation, he doesn’t really DO anythign himself, apart from creating chances for people to meet each other and have that epiphany, maybe he’s flashed AHEAD in fl;ash sideays, and knows that he should do this.sort of a flash-sideways-forward lol
dkeeghan: Glad you were satisfied with it too! All the naysayers would have loved it if it was just some dream -_-
Marky marc: AMEN to "all the reading, water and coffee runs"! I absolutely LOVED discussing it with you guys in the office, and LOVED the looks everyone would give us as we’d all peer over someone’s monitor for 20 minutes at a time and squeal like schoolgirls!
A not-so-confused NJ: I’m glad I made you jizz twice! Re: Hugo, Ben and Desmond, they all died in that real timeline. It’s up in the air as to WHEN they all died; Desmond could’ve got off The Island, lived with Penny and his son, and just died of old age. Similarly, who knows how long Hugo and Ben were on The Island? But it’s pretty safe to say that they died, not before Hugo found a successor, and then their souls/spirits came to the Flash Sideways. I’m fine with this level of ambiguity, as it was still relatively clear, to me, anyway.
drumonastick: Your comment kinda summed it up, really. Nothing to really respond to
And yeh, with Desmond, I guess that’s the one thing Widmore did do when he went back to The Island, although I’m not sure if he was aware of this other existence. Possibly?
So sad, oh so sad. drumonastick – if you were watching it with me, you would’ve seen A tear. I had shivers down my spine for the whole second half of it. I haven’t read any of the other blogs, but coup – your best work yet. Read it first thing when I got up and it put my sleepless mind at ease. "Good lord Kate looked hot in that dress" – concur."The Jin and Sun "recollection" scene was the best by MILES. Nothing came near it in terms of emotional clout" – again, concur. "There will never be as much theorising, speculation, love, dedication or hate directed towards a show. There will never be another television show like LOST" – enough said. Namaste,VG
VG: Totally had goosebumps! Definitely reached depression now, and it is all that is occupying my mind >.<
Great post. The only correction I would add is that I think I sobbed ‘uncontrollably’, rather than ‘hysterically’. That is all.
Fair call, it was more uncontrollable than hysterical anyway, and has been updated as such!
Nice post – great being a "latecomer" and joining you guys for the finale. That said – I still have questions … many questions … 🙂
Heh, are these questions you felt fundamental to the show? And does that mean you weren’t happy with the finale?!
I know it’s about 4 months after the last post, but I’ve only just come down off my high horse of disappointment!!I get it that the show was about people, etc. I think the biggest problem for most of us anti-finalites is that it didn’t hit the clever spot. It was a drab, ‘so what’, run of the mill finale like all the other ones we’ve watched in our lives (remember the x files one!!) and we expected Lost to break the mould and produce an amazing ‘wow didn’t expect that’ or ‘hey that’s clever’ – in other words htting the clever spot.One of the newspaper hacks hit the nail on the head when they said that the problem with Lost is that it does the small stories/nuaunces(sp?) brilliantly, but the welches on the big ones. I remember the ‘two got killed by a spider’ episode and it was brilliant how they wove them into all of the previous stories. The amount of tiny references in relation to what each character said, read or listened to were subtle magic, as they enabled joe average to spot them, investigate and be fulfilled that they’d seen and found an easter egg. That’s clever and fun drama.But for Hurley to just piece it all together about the ghost whisperss in 4 seconds when none of them had a clue in 6 seasons is just lazy ‘Friends’ style ‘resolve all the major talking points’ screenplay. This particular amateurish walkthrough even made the acting appear the same, which is something Lost always seemed to keep to high standard compared to say the fat ‘smacked arse’ bird off 24.And please, somebody explain the significance of the small cuts that Jack kept getting and the more important ‘everybody looking in a mirror’ aspects, as I just don’t think these were ever explained.To sum up, I just wanted the same effect that I got in Season 4 (??) when I was hit with the finale haymaker that they did actually get off the island and Jack was off his rocker in the future not the past. The lead up was perfect and OK I’m not the brightest on these things, but I didn’t see it coming and I loved it.I wanted to talk about Lost for months after about how good it was not how frustratingly lame it was. We’re all giving them an excuse about ‘well it was this really’ and ‘I don’t care about all of the answers because it was lovely at the end’, blah, blah.No it was not. It failed to blow us away with its cleverness and now we have to waste another batch of years from our lives hooking into another up-and-coming worldbeating series to see if it delivers.
c0uP, I agree with you completely! You are right in all aspects!