LOST: The End

Because I can’t not blog about LOST.

I watched LOST from day 1 but not every day since day 1.  I gave up towards the end of Season 1 and picked back up in Season 2.  Most of Seasons 3-5 were spent hounding a coworker for whatever answers he had since I missed a lot.  Only after a re-watch of Season 1 and most of Season 2 with Scott did I really understand most of it.  I’ve always considered myself a Lostie although hard core fans would probably laugh at my missed episodes.

Anyway, with 13 million other Losties I spent 4.5 hours in front of the TV watching the recap and then finale of LOST.  At the end of the episode my conclusion was that it was a beautiful episode and finale but that overall people wouldn’t be satisfied with the storyline and answers.  I think I still stand by that.

My biggest complaint is the resolution/explanation of the alternate timeline.  And it’s not that it wasn’t Biblically based or that it didn’t tie in with the island (although I could complain about that ) but mostly how come everyone got off the LAX plane and into this purgatory type place at the same time if they didn’t die at the same time?  Why the action/drama in LA at all if they are supposedly dead?  It doesn’t make much sense to me and certainly didn’t help answer many series-long questions.  I had hoped that the alternate line would somehow make more of an impact and converge with island time more than it did.

However, I enjoyed so much about last night.  I got weepy a few times and then was in an all-out ugly cry the last 30 or 40 minutes.  While the mythology and all has kept me interested for sure, I would say I’m more in the character-driven camp.  So seeing everyone come full circle with their constant and see everyone go in to the bright light together satisfied me to great depths.

The parts that made me ugly cry:

• Jack telling Hurley he would be the new protector made me openly weep.  Because Everybody Loves Hurley.  I wasn’t expecting this in the least and to see Hurley follow Jack again and then Jack trust Hurley who at many times hasn’t been trusted to live in the “normal world” much less protect the island it was heart warming to say the least.
• Vincent showing up with Jack made me weep on top of my weeping.  Throughout the series, everyone was always checking Vincent.  Is the dog ok?  It’s the mystery of utmost importance!  Not only was Vincent ok but he was there for Jack to end his journey as well as begin it.
• Seeing everyone in the finale.  In the moment I wasn’t sure what the church meant and why everyone was there but it was the final farewell and everyone knew it.  Part of weeping was grieving.  It was sad to know that was the last and only 1 of few that everyone was together.

The parts that made me weepy:

• Charlie recognizing Claire and then being there for the birth.  It was just so good to see the old Charlie again.
• Jack and Kate kiss on the cliff.
• Jin and Sun seeing their baby.

I know you’re expecting me to put Sayid and Shannon or Juliet and Sawyer and while they were beautiful moments, I’m not a huge fan of Juliet or Shannon.  So no weeping there

The parts I liked but didn’t make me cry:

• Jack killing MIB
• Rose and Bernard showing up

The parts that made me laugh:

• Miles: “I don’t believe in a lot of things but I do believe in duct tape.”
• Frank: “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a pilot.”
• Jin and Sun laughing at Sawyer as a cop.

Other notables:

• I loved all the mirror moments of the episode like Kate delivering Aaron
• I liked how everyone was dead by the end but in general, there weren’t a lot of deaths in the episode.  Grey’s fans you might know how I’m feeling about seeing a lack of murders.

Questions I still have:

• Eloise?  Widmore?  Still not sure how they fit in exactly.
• Walt?
• Still don’t get that looking glass thing.
• I’m pretty sure I can’t even think of all my questions.  I probably need to look up some LOST fan site that has them listed and see which I really care about.

I think in general, I’m MORE than satisfied with the character development.  I think what’s interesting and what speaks to the success of the show is when we were at the end of the show, we cared about every single character that was in that church and even some that were outside of it.  There are not many shows where I care about so many character and even couples.  I mean, even 2 episodes ago I was becoming sympathetic to MIB.  I’m so happy with Jack’s role as the leader and savior and movement from Man of Science to Man of Faith.  That alone make the series enough.  And to put Jack and Kate together at the end for me, is just icing on the cake.

As for the mythology, I’m a little disappointed in the how and why of everything.  They made it so general and I almost would have liked to have seen them commit to a Christian or even Egyptian theology instead of just general good/evil/heaven/purgatory/light/darkness but then it would have alienated so many.  I think in their attempt to be general though, you never really satisfy anyone.

But no one can argue about the ride it took us on.  For those that may be asking for their time back I would suggest that sometimes the destination doesn’t make the trip worth it, it’s simply the journey (cue Miley with The Climb, please).  Questions and more questions, love and hate, tears and laughter.

Book me for Oceanic Flight 815 because I’d pay for that again.

Check out more LOST reviews at Rocks in my Dryer.