But this is your place to vent so go ahead and start chatting below as we all prepare for the end of an era.
Photo from ABC.com
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Open Thread: The End of An Era Part 1 -- Goodbye LOST!
It's a one-two punch to the gut. LOST ends tonight with 24 following tomorrow. I don't think there's any question that 24 revolutionized television in a way with its unique format, topic, and style, but while we'll talk about 24 a ton tomorrow, today is set for the other revolutionary show: LOST. At a time when we as a nation were dealing with questions about spirituality, questioning authority figures, love, science vs. faith, loneliness, redemption and maybe were all feeling a bit, well, lost, a show came around and blew all of our minds. It was never without its flaws (*cough* Nikki and Paulo), but LOST was generally an A grade experience, ranking it someplace very close behind Seinfeld on the TV pantheon (in my humble opinion). I waited excitedly for it every week and when the show finally came, all I wanted to do was discuss it with everyone.
That's why tonight feels like a break up you knew you needed to do, but still can't bring yourself to go through with it (and tomorrow will be rinse and repeat). For a while now I moved my LOST discussion from e-mails and water cooler talk to this blog and it's been cathartic every day-after to pound out a post and see who agrees with me and who thinks I'm crazier than Hurley in the mental hospital. But even though the show is ending, I think we're far from over with discussing the show. The plan is to have an open discussion here where you can post all your last thoughts, theories, feelings, question and whatever else you want--as long as they don't contain any spoilers. Then at midnight tonight, you can come back here and talk about anything you want from the show that happened. As usual I'll throw up a recap tomorrow but once I digest, I'll have another LOST post for later in the week with some more thoughts on what went down during tonight's 2 and 1/2 hour epic.
But this is your place to vent so go ahead and start chatting below as we all prepare for the end of an era.
Photo from ABC.com
But this is your place to vent so go ahead and start chatting below as we all prepare for the end of an era.
Photo from ABC.com
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Here was a question posed to me on Twitter I figured I'd throw out there:
ReplyDeleteWhen Locke visited Jacob's cabin, who was the ghost who said "help me"? Was it Jacob? Man in Black? Christian Shephard? Horace? A trapped soul on The Island?
Probably not an essential question, but one that I'm sure people are divided on after all that happened (especially with the whole ash ring around the cabin situation).
I have never been so excited for a TV finale, and that includes Six Feet Under, the Sopranos, Friends, and (sorry Andrew) Seinfeld. More than any other show, this feels like the end of an era. And can you recall another finale that generated so much media and fan attention? I can't, and I think that goes to show the impact that LOST has had on our culture.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'd like to pass along an interesting theory from my friend, and fellow Lostaholic, Eric Levy. Eric believes that we'll learn that the Sideways World is simply the reality that was created when the H-bomb went off. The Island World that we've been seeing, therefore, isn't real. (Note: not sure what that means, but I digress.) And this makes sense, because look at what Desmond is doing in the SW...he is rounding everyone up so they can find their constant. That's what will allow them to connect to the parallel island world.
I think Eric's theory is as valid as any other that I've heard. I am looking forward to whether he's right or not. But regardless, I am getting more and more comfortable with the idea that most of my questions won't be answered. Why? I just want to feel satisfied when the episode is over. I don't want Darlton to lay an egg here, like David Chase did when he butchered the Sopranos finale. I want a gem of an episode, and I want to enjoy it through and through. Then I'll be happy, even if we'll be guessing about some of the minor questions for a long time.
I'm going to be crying along in my hotel room!
ReplyDeleteAlso - btw I didn't realize that Jin was on 24 for 2 seasons!
So, in anticipation of Andrew's recap, and since I'm trying to kill a few hours here, I'll post an initial reaction from last night's finale.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was good because I feel satisfied with the outcome. I also feel glad that the writers didn't screw up the finale Sopranos-style. But was it the best possible finale? Probably not. In many ways, I feel more confused than I should after reaching the end of the line. Still too many unanswered questions, and the outcome of the show is so confusing (possibly intentional by the writers) that nobody is 100% sure of what exactly happened. But that's okay. This show has always been more about the journey than the destination.
And besides, like we have said before, we were looking for closure, and we more or less got it. It is SO hard to wrap up such a complex show, so this may have been the best anyone could do. Kudos to the writers for accomplishing a very difficult task.
Yet I am still struggling. For example....Jack actually never had a son. The episode we saw this season that focused entirely on Jack and his son? Yeah, it wasn't real. Feels like a waste of time. Kinda makes you feel like the writers wasted a lot of our time in Season 6. Half of it was devoted to an artificial afterlife, and what did that cost us? It cost us a more satisfying end to the island world.
With that in mind, I'd like to share a quote from a Hollywood Reporter article that reflects my frustration with never finding out about the central icon of the show...the island:
"At the end of 'Lost,' we did not learn what the island really was. We have details and mechanics -- wheels, and light, and plugs -- like random pages from a manual to a device we still don't understand."
Anyway, I will end with saying I really did enjoy the finale. I feel satisfied and I do have closure. Darlton did a remarkable job closing out a very complicated and lengthy story. But boy are there some things that I'd still like to get some clarification on....and I kinda wish that Lost hadn't spent so much time on the Sideways World in Season 6.
Well now the recap is live so you can go and comment: http://www.nyat.net/2010/05/lost-with-lost-peace-love-and-closure.html
ReplyDelete