***SPOILER ALERT***
I will be discussing the last episode of Lost in this blog post, so don’t read it if you don’t want to know what happens.
Okay, first of all, I was to say that I was very happy with how the episode turned out. I think it showed us that the series was never about The Island itself, but rather the people on the island and their struggles that they had to overcome. I think ending the series with ideas of the afterlife was good. I think they pulled it off well. Obviously they could not make it specifically one religion’s afterlife, but I think they did a good job despite that fact, and I think they did a good job of closing things up while still giving us things to debate (which is one of my favorite things about Lost!). I can’t believe I never made a connection to the fact that Jack’s dad’s name was Christian Shepherd before! It seems so obvious in retrospect. Also, I loved the poetic end with Jack’s eye finally closing, after all those times we saw his (or others’) eyes begin episodes by opening. The contentment and joy that all of the characters had at the end was great. It was good closure that I think the episode needed to have. Also, they successfully implemented flashback montages throughout the episode without them seeming cheesy, which was good.
Now for my take on the ending:
The Island was always real life, and the flash-sideways weren’t actually a split timeline in a ‘true’ sense. That is, they weren’t concurrent. What Christian said to Jack in the church when asked when they were, he replied “There is no when here,” which implies that they have actually been in a sort of purgatory instead of in an alternate, concurrent timeline. I think that the sideways timeline must have been actually outside of time, and that–according to Christian’s other comment that some people died before and some long after Jack–all of the characters arrived to the sideways/purgatory-like timeline at the same time, but did not die and leave earth at the same time. Or to put it differently, I think that they did not arrive at the sideways timeline until after they died on earth. Also, I loved when each character realized/remembered being on The Island. I think what happened in each realization was that they were seeing their entire lives up until their deaths, at which point they would realize that they were dead and that they needed to move on to “Heaven” (or whatever you call the light-filled place they went to, but I’m going to call it Heaven.) I think that was them “remembering, and let[ting] go,” so that they could move on to Heaven.
What do you think about the ending? What do you think about this interpretation of the ending?
Some Epic Lost Moments
22 May 2010
I decided to reminisce about some of my favorite Lost moments. These are not in any particular order. Before I start this list, though, I’d like to say a few things about Lost. First off, this has been my favorite TV show ever. It has everything. There have been a few rough patches in the plot (the entire third season), but I think Lost’s ups definitely outweigh its downs. Second of all, I’m fairly certain I have yelled and fallen out of whatever chair I was sitting in at the end of just about every episode. Now we can begin:
Shannon’s Death
“Abandoned” Season 2, Episode 6
This event was significant to me because it was the first death of a character I didn’t think would die (the first in a long, long, long line of deaths I thought would never happen), but it made viewers realize no one was safe from death (except maybe Jack). Also, I know Boone died before Shannon, but his death didn’t affect me as much. Maybe because it wasn’t as out of the blue as Shannon being shot by Ana Lucia. But yeah, Shannon’s death showed that anything goes in Lost.
Desmond and Penny’s Phone Call
“The Constant” Season 4, Episode 5
This event was just good for my sanity. In the midst of explosions and confusion and death, Penny and Desmond are united by an unexpected phone call, before which they hadn’t seen or heard from each other for many years. It was a little beacon of hope where otherwise everything was looking pretty grim for all the characters.
Sun and Jin Episodes
“Ji Yeon” Episode 7, Season 4 & “The Candidate” Season 6, Episode 14
The first episode I’m referring to is the one where the viewer is lead to believe that Jin is bringing Sun and his new child a stuffed panda, when actually the end of the episode reveals that Sun and Jin are in timelines many years apart and Jin is actually bringing a panda stuffed animal to a client or something. You couldn’t help but freak out when you realized what was actually happening.
The second Sun and Jin episode is the one where they die immediately after being reunited. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE?! The only way I will be okay with it is if everyone on the island except Jack ends up dying like I theorize is going to happen in the finale. I seriously cried. I felt like an emotional idiot, but I couldn’t help myself. It was possibly the saddest thing ever.
The Nikki and Paolo Episode
“Exposé” Season 3, Episode 14
This episode was simultaneously amazing and ridiculous. The whole thing about them being buried alive at the end was almost too much for me. I loved the episode by itself, but it had nothing to do with the rest of the series. Nothing! I mean, I suppose it gets Ben off the hook of paying Miles his millions of dollars, but still! Before this episode Nikki and Paolo were just extras in the background when the main characters gethered everyone together.
The Opening of the Hatch
“Exodus, Part 1″ Season 1, Episode 24
This is the event that, I think, made this show legit. The sheer amount of things that could have been in the hatch had everyone guessing for the entire summer between seasons. It was truly an amazing cliff-hanger.
Ben Moving The Island
“There’s No Place Like Home, Part 2″ Season 4, Episode 13
This is the catalyst for the time shifts on the island, which I thought was a very interestingly executed plot twist in Lost chronology. About this point in time Lost fans started sounding like idiots when talking about the plot around people who didn’t watch, haha. The actual event of Ben turning the wheel was incredibly epic.
The Timeline-Splitting Explosion
“The Incident, Part 2″ Season 5, Episode 17
The sheer raw emotion in the entire scene where Sawyer is trying to rescue Juliet from what he is sure will mean certain death for her by falling into the dig site hole was great. And I loved the fact that that was how they were able to get the bomb to blow up; it made her death so much more heroic. Juliet was one of my favorite characters and I’m glad that she got to die by creating the flash sideways. I still hope/think that she and Sawyer are going to be together at the end of the final episode.
The Final Episode
“The End” Season 6, Episode 17
I have unabashedly high standards for this episode. Let’s just say I think it should be THE best 2 and a half hours of television I’ve experienced in my life. The End.
I feel like I probably missed something or somethings. Anyway, please feel free to add to my list.
And for the record, I think that the finale is going to go like this: Everyone is going to die on the island except for Jack somehow, and all the characters in the flash sideways are going to be united by Desmond who is going to somehow get them to all remember the Island, and remembering the events on The Island is going to solve all their major character flaws so that their time on The Island wasn’t all for naught.
