Let me get this out of the way first: I am still really emotional about the Lost finale. I know that this makes me completely lame. It's a television show, for Christ's sake. But I can't help it. For 6 years, I've obsessed over this show. I devoted over 100 hours of my life to this show (let's not get into how many times I've REwatched it...). I spent countless late nights on message boards, analyzing every minute detail with my fellow "Losties." I've bonded with complete strangers, because as anyone who has a fan for a friend knows, it becomes a 20 minute conversation every time someone brings it up. I've gotten friends as obsessed with it as I have been. I wish everyone watched this show. I honestly believe that it is one of the best viewing experiences I've had in my life - and I've watched a lot of television.
Having said all of that, I will say that I was completely let down by the series finale at first. I was emotionally drained and incredibly pissed at what I saw as a total cop-out on the producers' parts. I still have so many burning questions, as I know any fan of the show does. Obviously, I never expected every question to be answered. Did I need to know The Man In Black's name? No. But it would have been nice to know why women on the island couldn't have babies, something that was a huge plotline over several seasons. Or maybe why Walt and Aaron were "special." Or who the hell Wallace was. Alas, we got none of those answers and - in true Lost form - even more questions. But after watching the finale for the third time today, my crying fits having finally subsided to a few silent tears, I can truly appreciate it for what it was. And it was one hell of a show.
Here are some things I still don't quite understand from The End:
1.) I was really confused about this at first, but then when I watched again today, I think I finally got it. Everyone in that church was dead, right? Because at first, I was thinking, "What the frig? Hurley and Ben were still on the island when Jack died! Sawyer, Kate, and Claire flew away to safety. Desmond was on the island, but homeward bound. So I didn't understand why they were supposed to be dead. Then I listened to Christian's speech to Jack again, and he did say, "Some of them died before you, some long after you." Ok, now I get it. Because "the most important time of Jack's life was spent with these people," he gets to spend eternity with them. Then again, is this really a good thing? Was he particularly close to Boone or Shannon? I think he only met Penny once. And he and Locke were certainly never friends. So Jack doesn't get to see his mom in the afterlife? Only these people? I know I'm looking too far into it, and obviously our castaways DID share the most momentous times in their lives with eachother. But still...meh. Which leads me to...
2.) PURGATORY?! You promised, you sons of bitches.
3.) One of my biggest concerns is the children. What happened to Ji Yeon, little Charlie, Aaron, and Walt? Aaron was in Claire's arms at the end of the episode. Does that mean Aaron died, too? Also, let's go back to season 1 for a moment. In Claire's flashback story, she went to a psychic who told her that she had to raise Aaron herself because danger surrounds him. Then, he put her on a plane, apparently because he knew it would crash, to ensure his request would be carried out. So...does this mean that the child was doomed because Kate was raising him? Where was the danger surrounding him? Or was the psychic just anti-adoption?
And as much as I loved the Sun-Jin "did you see" moment (and I LOVED it), how could they feel so happy about supposedly seeing the child they had left behind? I'm doubting that Sun was pregnant with a ghost baby in purgatory. I'm thinking that Sun's un-enlightened self needed to have that sonogram performed to reach her enlightened state. There was no more Ji-Yeon. Which leads me to...
4.) David Shephard. So Jack didn't have a son, right? Then who was that poor child? A manifestation of Jack's deep-seated Daddy Issues? His subconscious giving him a chance to have the kind of father-son relationship he never had with Christian? I guess David will now disappear into the ether, along with every other expendable, non-castaway in the Matrix of their un-enlightened minds. Also, being divorced from Juliet was a really odd choice - but I read in a column that perhaps it was Jack's subconscious way of making up for how awful his marriage to Sarah had been. Jack had a lot of guilt, you see...
5.) The mysterious blood on Jack's neck was finally explained, which was really cool. And that appendix scar from the season premiere? That was from FLocke stabbing Jack in the side. Awesome. (And I'm sorry, I know a lot of people thought the Jack/FLocke running-at-each-other-fight scene was cheesy, but I frigging LOVED it. "Looooccckkkeee!!" Chills.)
6.) The enlightenment scenes were stellar, and every single one had me sobbing like a family member had just died. My only complaint is that we didn't get one Des-Penny scene. What is up with that?? I'd so much rather have seen that than a Sayid-Shannon reunion. My favorites were obviously Sun-Jin and Sawyer-Juliet. But the Locke scene was great, too. "I hope that somebody does for you what you just did for me." Sigh. I missed the old John Locke. (One quibble - where was Helen?? You only get to spend eternity with your soulmate if they were on Oceanic 815? They were supposed to get married, and she was suddenly just gone from John's life?? Well, afterlife...) I admit, I liked seeing the old Jack-Kate chemistry again. Their final goodbye on the island was heart-wrenching, and their Purgatory reunion was sweet.
7.) No enlightenment scenes for our Freighter crew. Desmond told Eloise Hawking that Daniel would not be moving on with him. Was it because Daniel wasn't on the flight? Neither were Des or Penny, but they were in that church. And Ana Lucia "wasn't ready," but Libby was? Who gets to choose? Do you have to have a soulmate? (Which Daniel did, in Charlotte.) Rules, rules, rules.
8.) One thing I'll always be sad we never got to see was Hurley and Ben's reign on the island. They shared a sweet scene outside the church, complimenting one another on their skills as a team. So obviously it had been a while since Jack's death. It kills me that we'll never know why Hurley and Ben finally left the island. Was it death? Who's protecting the island now? Walt?
9.) I thought Ben's road to redemption was great, and I'm glad we ended the series with Ben being welcomed as one of their group. Obviously, he still didn't completely forgive himself, as he decided to stay in Purgatory to "work some things out." I wonder if Rousseau and Alex will be there with him. I wonder if they "remember."
All in all, I was mostly satisfied that all of our castaways ended up happy. Happy and dead, but happy nonetheless. I'm still sad that they couldn't all live happily ever after (alive), but then that wouldn't be the show I fell in love with 6 years ago. I'll always wonder about where the Others disappeared off to. And what happened to Cindy the flight attendant and the kids. And why the Others gave Walt back. And why the Dharma Initiative and the Others were barely mentioned once in all of season 6, when we've spent 5 years analyzing Orientation films. And what was in those damn notebooks?!
But at least, in our minds, our favorite characters are together, and happy...wherever they are. I suppose I can live with that.
--Lostie
1. A person who is overly obsessed and easily excited with the hit TV show, LOST. 2. A degree of fandom only attained by knowing way too much info about the show LOST.--
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