Lost with LOST: Peace, Love and Closure

Namaste! If you were to tell me two years ago that the final episode of LOST would answer no questions, I would have been pissed. I would have probably stopped watching. I would have been wondering what was the point of continuing with the show. But last night's finale was exactly what I needed to close out such an emotionally charged series: closure. It's a funny word to use considering [spoiler alert] everyone dies in the end, but I can't think of another word that describes the feeling I was hoping for--and was achieved--at the end. It was a magical journey through the years, one that kept all of us guessing and theorizing and debating. But in the end, I've always said that the show was about the characters and their battles with redemption, love, and faith--and the finale was all about those three themes. One last time, let's go under the waterfall and go down the rabbit hole, shall we?

Overall Summary

I usually do the conclusion at the end, but I'm sort of going to skip ahead to this step for this 2 1/2 hour episode. The episode had four parts in my mind. The first part was ridiculously (for the topic) funny* and self-referential. The second part was action-packed, choppy (how many freaking commercial breaks?) and tense. The third part was emotional, reflective and enlightening. And the last part was happy and satisfying. I truly believe the end filled my deepest desires to finish the show on a strong, emotional, and clear note. After the show, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had a few fake "alternate endings" and one was a replica of the Sopranos. The hope was that LOST would end on a more clear note than the Sopranos and with a stronger finish than Seinfeld and I think it delivered.

*Side Note: Speaking of funny, the Target ads were great (if you caught them in between furious fast forwarding of the DVR). The "smoke detector" one was the best. Kudos to Target to be the only company to treat this like a Super Bowl. And as for the self-referential, I had no clue for the first hour or so if the lines were meant for the character in the show or for the audience. I'll take the homage to me but in some ways, it got a little cutesy (more on this in about 10 seconds)

The ending was not without flaws, though. I felt at times it was getting too self-referential to the point it was cheesy at times. Things almost seemed to work out too perfectly and the "reunion episode" feeling of the final scenes were a bit too easy for me as did some weak plot twists. I loved the scene where Detective James Ford goes into the hospital room to see Jin and Sun and they're just smiling ear-to-ear since they know so much more than him, but I could have dealt without some of the other cutesy moments that I felt were easy outs (like the Boone line about how hard it was to get Shannon back). So was the whole "purgatory" idea when the creators swore up and down the show wasn't about that (though, to be fair, I guess "The Island" wasn't that place). And I'm not a big fan of Sayid's constant being Shannon--a whiny brat who he had a week affair with (as Ari said during the show, it was his "white girl phase") and they needed to find a way to write her back into the show for the finale--instead of Nadia or somebody else (hey, I'd have taken Rousseau who was his "constant" for the entire first season). And didn't it feel like a ton of the narratives just sort of ended with a bloody knife like Dogen? But that's the end of my larger quips for now since I really did love the finale. On to the recap, which, unlike last night's episode, will be presented commercial free.

The Island

In the end, one thing Desmond was very wrong about was that it definitely mattered what happened on The Island. While the Sideways World ended up being some sort of afterlife waiting room (more on this later), The Island world was what allowed the characters to do what they did and be who they were. It allowed them to live their lives. And when they died on The Island, they physically died.

But this show was wholly spiritual and even though they died on The Island, their souls moved on. Locke's comments to Jack in the Sideways World earlier this season while in the Missing Luggage department of Oceanic Airlines were even more true now. Some people were upset that the ending didn't describe more about what The Island really was or what that light was or where all the electromagnetic energy went--but in some ways, the shows spirituality says to me that we all just need to accept that like we accept stories in each of our faiths: hey, some of the questions are beyond our comprehension and we need to just accept them. I'm not a huge fan of doing this (I like things that can be explained), but it worked for me on LOST. In a way, it said that science and faith both can be explained by the fact that something is beyond our comprehension and we just need to accept that. If we keep on asking why the sky is blue or how the Red Sea really parted, we miss the real point (in my opinion at least).

I'm not going to get too caught up in the recap in this episode, but I'll get a few thoughts out there post script on our Island characters.

FLocke: I was surprised (as were most of the other people in the room watching with me) that they disposed of FLocke so early on in the episode (though it was an awesome battle on the cliffs). Like in the end of many movies, they killed the bad guy and then needed to get the heck out of Dodge because the whole place was crumbling. I'm wondering why FLocke didn't kill Kate or Desmond earlier on in the episode. Supposedly he couldn't kill the candidates but he why not get rid of Kate and Desmond (and anyone else in his way like Ben)? And if Jack was now Jacob, technically Sawyer and Hurley weren't candidates anymore--could he not kill them? It was nice of Man In Black to leave them around, but seemed un-Smokey. I expected him to be a more resistant bad guy but he seemed to be a lot more "cordial" than I expected (sparing Rose and Bernard with a true word is a good example). And he was even funny at times like when he quipped about Jack being "the obvious choice" to replace Jacob. But in the end, what Desmond did worked--it turned Man in Black human for just enough time for Kate to blow a hole through his chest and for Jack to kick him off The Island (as FLocke kicked Jacob into the fire).

Kate, Claire, and Sawyer: I haven't hid my dislike of either of these female characters, especially their Island arcs, but they both got good endings. Kate's purpose was finally revealed and she unloaded a few bullets into FLocke (and thanked him to telling her to save the bullet!). Claire was finally convinced to leave The Island and allowed to come along this time. Sawyer's Island finale was less exciting, though full of Sawyer quips that were sprinkled through the early parts of the episode. They all served greater roles in the Sideways World, but they served their purpose on The Island. And we got some more son-of-a-bitch lines from Sawyer which was awesome.

Lapidus, Miles, and Richard: I knew Lapidus couldn't be dead. It seems like Lapidus' (or "chesty" as Sawyer called him) big role on the show was to spit out one liners and to fly the plane. And he gave us both. The lasting line from Miles will be about duct tape and that's okay with me. But Richard was subtly really good this episode including his turning human once again and "wanting to live". I think that when Desmond pulled out the cork, that not only did FLocke turn human, but Richard Alpert finally did as well. Then he had to leave The Island for the first time in a long time and actually live his life. These are three characters I didn't expect to be three to "survive" but they all served their purpose*.

*Side Note: OK, here goes a question: was the wreckage at the end Lapidus' plane or Oceanic 815 from the pilot. I'm going with the latter but some have thought it was Lapidus' plane going down. One theory was that Hurley didn't want it to leave and crashed it (I don't like this one). Another theory is that they all needed to die to join Jack in the church of the Sideways World. One other theory is that it was another plane Hurley brought to The Island a la Oceanic. My thoughts? I'm pretty sure that this was just an homage to the $10 million pilot and that plane was Oceanic but interesting that even in the final credits we are debating the meaning.

Hurley and Ben: They weren't exactly sharing an Apollo bar (one of the most underrated scenes on the show), but their interaction at the end was great. Jorge Garcia put on his best acting performance of the season (and maybe of the show) as he tackled the weight of taking on the role of "Number One" and Jack's death. Jack believing in Hurley was a big step for the big guy and I think that he will truly do what he's best at while in charge of The Island which is helping other people. His Star Wars quips about Yoda and having a bad feeling about all this were a nice bow back to George Lucas after Lucas had nice things to say about LOST. Ben was great as usual. I wish there was one scene that showed his redemption (since some thought he was actually back to being Bad Ben again when he killed Widmore and we really didn't see him change from the guy who said he was going to help FLocke last episode), but the twinkle in his eyes when he was offered the "Number Two"/Richard Alpert job by Hurley and his rationalization for going with Jack were great. Ben had always really held that type of position on The Island, but always felt marginalized either through threats to his power (Widmore or Locke) or for the fact that Jacob never appeared to him. Ben finally got offered the position he really wanted. Hurley's trepidation about Desmond not being able to get back to Penny and Charlie was pure Hurley, but Ben's explanation to Hurley that he could make his own rules now made sense to me*. One thing that didn't make sense to me: how the heck did they get Ben out from under that large tree trunk when he was most obviously stuck?

*Side Note: Let's wrap up the Dharma Initiaitve right here with my theory. Jacob believed that man was inherently good so he kept on bringing people to The Island to prove his point. He refused to let them leave which would either mean they would be worthy of controlling his Island, or he would have to purge them in the end. His biggest test case was the Dharma Initiative who were hippy-esque nature lovers who he thought could live on The Island in peace and harmony. But then they decided to fight with The Others and tried to exploit the science of The Island (especially Pierre Chang and Radzinsky's "dig, baby dig" initiative). When they finally got too close to "The Light", Jacob had The Others purge the Dharma Initative and allowed Ben to show his loyalty through doing this. And the whole baby thing? It was what happened the first time around when they tapped into the core of The Island in "The Incident". Agree or disagree with me on all this? Have problems that these weren't answered more fully? I'm OK with leaving them out of the finale but others were not.

Rose, Bernard and Vincent: So it was Rose and Bernard that pulled Desmond out of that well? But it was Vincent who played to the emotional cords at the end...

Jack: ...because in "The End" we got what we got in the pilot. Jack, Vincent, the eye and that bamboo field in the forest. It was a tremendous season for Matthew Fox and an Emmy-worthy finale. I've always been a "Jack fan" in that I hoped for him to find redemption in the end. He certainly did just that. Jack's last scene, in the forest, watching the plane fly safely overhead (which is why, in my opinion, that has to be Lapidus' plan safely leaving The Island) was uplifting for a guy who was always trying to fix things and save people. Jack's sacrifice, deferential leadership and defense of John Locke was a huge change from a man who two seasons ago was a drugged out mess. In the end, though, Jack became the man he always wanted to prove his father he was and I think we're all better for it.

In one of the more unconventional moves of the finale (and, therefore, so much more LOST), Hurley was stuck on The Island, Jack died, and characters like Miles and Claire (which I thought were goners) lived to see another day. And Jack got to be a hero, recorking The Island and then getting to go and die where he first "woke up". That awakening was, as Jack's father put later, the most important time of his life. How it ended with Jack and Vincent was powerful and meaningful and, although predictable, was exactly how I would have chosen to end the show.

Sideways World

The question was posed today if we would have been better off had this non-reality been totally left off of the final season? My answer is no. I think that although it was annoying it took until the final 30 minutes for us to find out what the heck it was, it was an important way to wrap up the show. I'm sure people will have problems with the way it dominated the season and end up being a waiting room for heaven, but I'm willing to let this slide--for now. I'm going to post more thoughts later in the week and I might not be as OK with it once I have more time to digest. I was more invested in "what would be The Constant" that would make people "enlightened"/flashback/download their Island World memories (a la The Matrix) in the ending of the Sideways World storyline, but there was some plot there too. My friend Alaine agrees with me: "we knew we weren't going to get all of the answers we wanted, so re-living the best parts of the series and having that spriritual closure with our characters felt like a good way to end an emotionally trying series".

What we found in the Sideways World was that everyone needed to find their constant (and have some contact with that constant) to be "woken". For Jin and Sun, it was Ji Yeon and Juliet and seeing the baby (and a reboot to English accompanied it). For Charlie, Kate and Claire, it was Aaron's birth. Juliet and Sawyer found it in each other. So did Shannon and Sayid (barf). John Locke found it when Jack touched his recently-mobile feet (and a reboot to being able to walk accompanied it). We don't find out how Rose and Bernard or Boone get their "whoosh" but I'm OK with that--there are things fine to be left unanswered. The characters I wanted to see get rebooted, got that treatment.

Jack's the only one who took a long while to get it. He got glimpses (as Charlie described when he had a glimpse of Claire), but never allowed himself to actually experience the full vision. Not with Locke (and their vision down The Hatch matched up with their vision down the waterfall) and not with Kate (I thought I would be upset when they ended up together but it seemed all right, though predictable and easy). But when he saw his father's coffin and allowed himself to touch it and hold on tight, everything finally came rushing back to him.

And then Christian Shephard (Kate's comment on his name was pretty funny) appeared. I think we can debate for a long time whether it was really Man In Black impersonating him on The Island and other places (I say no), but one thing is certainly true: this was him. His embrace with Jack was not only cathartic for the character, but as an audience member who has seen their relationship unfold over these years, it was also a nice sigh of relief for me. When Jack was being held captive by Ben and Juliet way-back-when, a voice came over the intercom that sounded a lot like Christian's and told him to "let go". Well seasons later, Jack was finally able to do just that.

I'm a little upset that the Sideways World ended up being, well, nothing. It was heaven's waiting room, a place that they could all play together until they were ready to pass on to the next life. Although I understand why we didn't find that out in episode one of this season, the reveal now means that some of the early-season scenes that were drawn out of Sideways experiences were really for naught. Who cared if Kate really did it or that James Ford ended up still hunting down his parent's con man when this world doesn't really exist?

What I did care about was Desmond's (and Hurley's) journey to get everyone rounded up and to experience what they needed to experience. The flashbacks in the first few seasons served as a good character-building tool. The flashbacks in the Sideways World served as a reminder of all those good times we had in the first few seasons. The reunion in the church allowed all of us to see our favorite characters again and the scenes outside Eloise's Church (with lots of religions depicted in its painted glass) with Ben and Locke (and Locke forgiving Ben) and Ben and Hurley (and some great dialogue) was a nice way to end the Ben saga that has taken us from "good" to "evil" so many times throughout the series.

Here's some things I didn't get: what exactly was Eloise's role and how did she know so much before everyone else? What did this role of Eloise have to do with her role as the owner of the jewelry shop that Desmond went to buy Penny's engagement ring in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"? Why didn't/couldn't Ben enter the church? Why wasn't Michael or Walt there? Nikki or Paulo? Ilana or Ana Lucia? Charlotte or Miles? Why could Desmond allow Eloise to stay with Daniel a little bit longer? Why could Penny be there since she was never on The Island? And not only did Jin and Sun go into the afterlife with Ji Yeon, Juliet and Jack left their son all by himself as well (or Locke without Helen) which will surely rile up some people in the audience. As will Christian's comments that the people in the Church were the people that mattered most in these people's lives when clearly the Flashbacks show that there were PLENTY more people instrumental in that charge.

But I liked it. It worked for me. Maybe when I have more time to digest, I'll be more upset about the questions I just listed above, but I'm OK with how they wrapped it up. Everything was too perfect (a la Pleasantville) in that world for it to be really real. So I was OK with it not being real. I liked the fact it allowed for Jack and his father to actually embrace and forgive each other. And to tell one another they loved each other, because, above all, the show is about love and redemption and that embodied both of them in the true sense of the show--emotion. And with a white light whoosh, we were done.

Conclusion

So, so much more to write about, but I'm going to leave us here. As I said, I'll be back later in the week to talk more about LOST, talk about Jimmy Kimmel Live and some of the character reactions (including a very emotional Matthew Fox), and to try to summarize my feelings after I've had a good chance to count to 5 and take a deep breath. In the meantime, head down below to the comments and tell us your initial thoughts, theories, feelings about the finale, and any frustrations you have. Again, I'm not sure the episode (or the entire season) worked on a plot level and there are still a ton of questions out there (why was Libby in the mental hospital? what was the whole deal with Walt being special in the first two seasons? etc.), but I'm also okay with those not being answered. I was emotionally driven by the finale and I got the closure that I was looking for when I set out on this journey. I'm sad that it's done but I'm glad knowing that it went out on top.

And I want to thank all of you for joining in this journey with me. Whether it's "You All Everybody" or "live together, die alone", the show has always been about individuals who become better people and find their true selves when together in a group. And I think that this blog has benefited from the audience participation, the theories, the questions and answers and the general love for LOST that's been espoused here on a weekly basis. This was certainly an experience we shared together. In the end we got peace, love...and closure (we were supposed to get some Rock & Roll, but that got cut out by Charlie seeing Claire). And I hope you all got the closure I experienced so that you can now "move on" as well. Now head down the comments and let's share our thoughts one last time.

Photo from PopEater