Lost with LOST: And Then The Sun Sets On Disney Happy Endings

Last night's episode was one where most people finish it so engulfed in a sea of emotions that all they can say is "whoa". Or at least that was my reaction. Last night's show was a quick reminder that LOST is now about Disney-style happy endings. The characters don't all live and defeat the evil and go on with their happy lives. No, they sometimes (usually?) end up dying. But in that death, sometimes characters find their own happiness. Charlie died a hero, Shannon died having finally found a man who would treat her well (Sayid), and Sayid even got his own redemption in death. In some ways, Jin and Sun found that same happiness in each others arms, dying in the most tragic/poetically-beautiful of ways. That doesn't make things any easier to swallow for the audience which lost Sun, Jin, Sayid, and probably (maybe?) Lapidus last night. Let's take a look at what happened on The Island and the Sideways World in last night's great returning episode:

Island World

Sun and Jin - let's get right into it. Sun and Jin had been trying to get back together since the fateful freighter scene many moons ago. Last episode, we finally got their long-awaited tearful reunion. This episode, we shed some more tears for them. Shannon died in Sayid's arms, Juliet died in Sawyer's arms and last night we had lovers die hand in hand once again. It was a tough scene to watch. You sort of knew that Sun wasn't getting out of there. And you got the feeling that Jin wasn't leaving without her. So what happens to little orphan Ji-Yeon? What happens to their candidacy? Was their daughter the candidate all along? We know we'll probably see the characters again in the Sideways World but what does this say for Sideways Jin and Sun? So many years spent trying to get back together and their reunion was tragically short-lived. I loved the scene in the cage where they were talking to each other (in English!) about their daughter. I smiled when Sun pulled out the ring to give to Jin. Their marriage had finally come back full circle (remember "no ring" in the Sideways World?). Let's hope there's more love for that couple in the afterlife. And it was also very appropriate that these two characters spoke Korean to each other in their last moments considering the first season showed them climbing down the Tower of Babel. RIP Jin and Sun.

Lapidus - If that was Captain Frank Lapidus' end, I'm going to be pissed. Like really pissed. I was OK with characters like Ilana or Casear having quick, unceremonious deaths, but Lapidus? It can't be. He (like Desmond) has to be alive. Right? There's no sub anymore so this plane is their last chance. And Lapidus is their pilot. Hopefully.

Sayid - I can't say that I'm as sad as I thought I would be by Sayid's death (mostly because he's been a Zombie all season), but at least he hit his redemptive arc and went out saving everyone else. He also gave us one little tidbit: Desmond's alive...and I believe that he said he wants Jack to be the one to save him. I'm not sure exactly what Sayid said before he ran away with the bomb, but I think he just put this whole thing back on Jack's shoulders---and looked quite human, for a change, while doing it. Sayid has tried to deal with the fact he's a bad person since the show began and it's nice to see him go out being a good person.

FLocke - Ok, there's really no doubt--he's pure evil. How the episode developed, the reveal of the backpack wasn't all that surprising, but the fact that Sawyer was out-long-conned has to piss him off. He's out to kill off the candidates so he can escape the Island and is two down in that effort. Oh, and he very much can still turn into Smokey as he did when he killed Joba jr (H/T Jay). You still don't know if you can trust Widmore...but you know that you can't trust FLocke. (And how exactly does he know how to time-trigger C4 that quickly with an anti-disabling mechanism?)

I'm Looking at the Man In the Mirror...

Island Jack - Jack was featured heavily*  in both the Island World and the Sideways World and we'll tackle both individually. The Island Jack seemed to be the one man who had a clue what was going on. He knew last episode that FLocke was trying to get them all in one place to blow them up. And he had some ideas about how to deal with the whole situation (stay on The Island for now and don't mess with the bomb) that seem to have been correct in retrospect. Jack has learned to let go and turn into a believer--though he still has the healer instinct that he needs to help his friends when they needed him. Jack's tears at the end were--I believe--not just for Jin and Sun, but also for all the people he's lost and yet to mourn for like his father, Juliet, etc. Maybe he's taking his Sideways World advice and finally "letting go"

*Side Note: The TV guide blurb for the episode read something like "Jack must decide whether he can trust Locke." Did they just copy that one across the first seasons? Doesn't that describe Jack and Locke's ENTIRE relationship? Could they have been any less creative describing this week's episode?

Sideways Jack - If you got the sense that Island Jack is starting to figure things out there, you definitely get the sense he's putting some things together in the Sideways World. His obsession with Locke's injury was a bit odd, but it did bring him to Bernard* who seemed to speak in a lot of double entendres making you wonder if he knows something as well. It also brought us some more Helen, Claire, and a badly beaten up Anthony Cooper. It also brought Jack head-to-head with a jewelry box from his father (and a very, very odd camera shot where Claire and Jack both look into the mirror), a quick glance at Jin in the hospital, and really not much else. With three episodes left, I would have hoped we would get more answers to what the heck the Sideways World really is. Right now, it seems very much like a plot line from the John Cusack thriller, Identity. Except while everyone had the same birthday in that movie, Jack is finding out they all were on the same flight on LOST. I kept on waiting for Desmond to show back up, but it looks like Jack has taken the torch from him.

*Side Note: Whither Rose and Bernard on The Island? Last time we saw them was a season ago when they were telling Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate that they were happy just living out the rest of their lives together on The Island. Did they get that wish? Are they still out there someplace with Vincent? Answer me that, LOST writers!

Sideways Locke - Well we found out that he injured himself flying a plane with his father in the Sideways World. While Jack seems to blame himself for his father's death on The Island, Locke has taken that baton in the Sideways World. The freakiest part of the episode was Locke's speech while he was resting - "we have to push the button" and "I wish you would have believed me" - the latter of which got a huge deja vu look from Jack. It was also the words he used to try to convince a stubborn Locke to opt for the surgery and picture a different life in his mirror. John gave him a quick laugh (anyone else get a little creeped out by that chuckle?) and rolled his wheelchair out of the hospital.

Questions and Conclusion

We didn't get to talk about a lot, I know, but yet there wasn't a lot of big revelations besides the deaths. There are some questions to answer. Why was Widmore not guarding the sub? Did Widmore actually plant the C4 on the plane or did FLocke? Why did FLocke wait until now to turn into Smokey again? Would the bomb had gone off had they listened to Jack? Was there a cooler scene than when they all attacked the sub together? Do we always have to go back to the cages to get some Sawyer loving for Kate? What's up with the Ben/Miles/Richard team? What was up with that jewelry box? Why aren't more people than Desmond, Daniel, Libby, Charlie and Hurley "transferring" information from their Island selves (as far as we know)? Does anyone else have a problem with the Kwon's orphaning their daughter so they could have a Romeo and Juliet ending? And what the heck is going to happen next?

At this point I'm doing trying hypothesize the ending. We know that everyone isn't going to get their "happily ever after". Although the show is on ABC, there is no Disney ending for many of these characters. We saw that in the crying at the end of the episode. I think that it's going to come down to Jack having to make a choice and the worlds will have some more collisions...but other than that, I have no clue. I'm worried we don't have enough time to answer all the questions I have about this show. I was glad when they showed Jacob and Man in Black in the previews and hope we finally get that story taken care of next week (as well as that creepy kid in the forest). And I'm really excited we're getting an extra half hour of LOST in the finale. I just want to continue on this ride forever, and I'm sad it's coming to an end soon...but I've loved every minute so far and can't wait for the final few hours.

So put your thoughts and theories and feelings in the comments below and let us know how you felt after a week off with the newest installment of LOST

Photos from ABC.com