LOST discussion - thar be spoilers ahead!

[Darklord Dave]

The very ending wasn't perfect for me, but the journey of this episode and most of the rest of series were incredible. I really lost it during almost all of the "realizations" - Sun/Jin, Sawyer/Juliet, Charlie/Claire - very emotional and satisfying.

 

[SwedishHeat]

That was perfect. I don't even care about what the island is, or anything else. Ultimately, it was about the characters, and they made it work. Before this finale, I wanted answers, now I couldn't care less.

I'm glad they went with the purgatory thing, we've seen these characters go through hell, and I'm glad to see them all end up happy.

I was so afraid Jack was going to end up alone, when I saw him laying down I kept thinking "Live together, die alone" and how sad it was that the hero was going to lay down and die by himself, then Vincent ran up to be with him. It was wonderful.

Loved how Jack and Flocke looking down the light mirrored the hatch scene at the end of Season 1. There were so many call-backs, it was great. I loved the moments of anticipation, waiting for Sawyer and Jack to get their "moments of realization" when I put it together that Juliet was at the hospital and Sawyer was walking around, that "A-Ha!!" moment was great.

 

[Giant Chicken]

Okay. I think I liked it. BUT!....

Why was the island under water in the beginning of the season???? Does the island not exist in the "purgatory" world?, Did the island sink after Hurley was finished with it? Whats up.

I loved the fact that Vincent kept Jack company in the end. I gave my yellow lab Cooper a pat on the head during that scene.

 

[plasmid303]

I've thought about it for a bit while getting ready for sleep, and I've concluded that while the finale was generally emotionally satisfying, there is one big misstep that pretty much ruins a huge part of season 6: Almost everything that happened in the sideways reality doesn't matter. All the time they spent delving into sub stories involving Jack's son, Locke's altered accident and his dad, Nadia, Sawyer's past, Eloise and Widmore and Daniel...NONE of that mattered outside of merely paving the road towards getting everyone together inside the church. But not everyone was there. Sure, it is explained that some people 'aren't ready yet', in the case of Ana Lucia and what I assume Miles and Charlotte. But what about Daniel Faraday/Widmore? I don't remember seeing him inside the church. He deserves a bit of peace too.

With the sideways timeline we were herded around, and in the end, most of it was a waste of time.

On a tangential note, the high point of the episode for me was the showdown between Jack and Locke on the cliff. Just speaking on the directing and composition of those action sequences, it was awesome. When Jack and Locke were facing off and Jack did that leaping punch (right before cutting to commercials), I uttered "epic" out loud. That was a really well shot fight scene.

epic

 

[tomandshell]

I really loved all of the emotional and touching "realization" moments in the episode, and the chance to see all of these beloved characters together again. But the last few minutes left me a bit cold. I was waiting all season for the explanation as to the connection between the two timelines, and the ultimate answer was vague enough that I don't believe there was a direct connection. Why was the Island seen at the bottom of the ocean? I have no idea, if this was a "purgatory" timeline. That bottom of the ocean shot set us up for something that wasn't quite delivered.

In reading some of the first few reviews of the finale, I came across this paragraph:

They made up an entirely new story for Season 6 as a pretext to abandon the main narrative that has dominated the entire series up until that point. By inventing "alternate reality" at the beginning of 6 and then focusing almost the entire final episode on it, Cuse and Lindelof escape the corner they painted themselves in over 5 seasons. To torture the metaphor, they basically said..."Well, this whole room is painted, but look next door! A room without any paint at all! What's going on over there?" And because they thought up a nice ending to THAT story, one that gave them an excuse to explore all the main love stories that have played out over 6 seasons, the audience is tempted to overlook the fact that essentially NONE of the main questions get answered, and none of the big plot points of the first 4 seasons are dealt with in any way.

I kind of agree that in the end, the climax served primarily as a conclusion to the newly invented sideways storyline of season six, but not to the rest of the series itself. I was expecting an ending that would kind of place the entire series in a new light--that at the end of the finale, I would be saying, "So that's what the Island was all about." This ending doesn't explain or illuminate the importance or meaning or impact of the Island, or cause us to rewatch the entire series through a new lens--it just explains the significance of the "sideways timeline." (And not in an entirely clear way.) They wrote a great conclusion to the story we've been watching for the last four months instead of the one we've been watching for the past six years.

I understand the idea that the point of the entire series was just to bring these characters together so that they could forge a bond that would carry them through this life and into whatever lies beyond--that's a nice idea and hard to criticize (unless you are a supremely cynical person), but it does fail a bit as a resolution to the specific Island mysteries and questions of the past six years.

 

[JediMike71]

You bring up some great points! I agree with you on all of them. After getting past my initial very emotional reaction to the finale', I can see your points. I didn't really understand the sideways reality made up for the show. I had a hard time trying to explain the show to my 10 year-old daughter that got out of it for the past 2 to 3 seasons, but wanted to see the finale'. I kept saying, "on the island" and "in the city" as two different realities to her for her to try and understand.

I agree with you about the producers/writers literally "painting themselves into a corner". I like the analogy you gave of saying let's look at this other house with no paint now (sideways reality storylines). Neat way of looking at it.

So, I wonder what happened to the island. Just out of curiosity. Wouldn't that be something if they cut to the island at the end of the finale' and showed Vincent the dog just standing there on a high mountain looking out at the ocean. No Hurley, No Ben Linus with him. Poor dog! He gets abandoned by Michael and Walt, and now the rest of the gang. Anyway....overall I still liked the finale'. Seeing the couples get back together was a highlight, and the Jack vs Locke "smoke monster" fight on the rocks was cool. I just wish that the "smoke monster" had kept his original form as Jacob's brother. It would have given him a more menacing look. Trying to convince myself that Locke really was NOT Locke at the end of the series was tough. Locke was a character I really admired, and it was hard shifting my emotions to seeing him as the ultimate bad guy in this show.

 

[Karma]

thank you for rewarding my belief in you LOST

 

[Johnny Utah]

A very satisfying ending. Bawled my eyes out. I think it's up there with Six Feet Under. As for questions - who cares.

 

[Karma]

those looking for answers.........let go

 

[gdb]

I really loved all of the emotional and touching "realization" moments in the episode, and the chance to see all of these beloved characters together again. But the last few minutes left me a bit cold. I was waiting all season for the explanation as to the connection between the two timelines, and the ultimate answer was vague enough that I don't believe there was a direct connection. Why was the Island seen at the bottom of the ocean? I have no idea, if this was a "purgatory" timeline. That bottom of the ocean shot set us up for something that wasn't quite delivered.

In reading some of the first few reviews of the finale, I came across this paragraph:

They made up an entirely new story for Season 6 as a pretext to abandon the main narrative that has dominated the entire series up until that point. By inventing "alternate reality" at the beginning of 6 and then focusing almost the entire final episode on it, Cuse and Lindelof escape the corner they painted themselves in over 5 seasons. To torture the metaphor, they basically said..."Well, this whole room is painted, but look next door! A room without any paint at all! What's going on over there?" And because they thought up a nice ending to THAT story, one that gave them an excuse to explore all the main love stories that have played out over 6 seasons, the audience is tempted to overlook the fact that essentially NONE of the main questions get answered, and none of the big plot points of the first 4 seasons are dealt with in any way.

I kind of agree that in the end, the climax served primarily as a conclusion to the newly invented sideways storyline of season six, but not to the rest of the series itself. I was expecting an ending that would kind of place the entire series in a new light--that at the end of the finale, I would be saying, "So that's what the Island was all about." This ending doesn't explain or illuminate the importance or meaning or impact of the Island, or cause us to rewatch the entire series through a new lens--it just explains the significance of the "sideways timeline." (And not in an entirely clear way.) They wrote a great conclusion to the story we've been watching for the last four months instead of the one we've been watching for the past six years.

I understand the idea that the point of the entire series was just to bring these characters together so that they could forge a bond that would carry them through this life and into whatever lies beyond--that's a nice idea and hard to criticize (unless you are a supremely cynical person), but it does fail a bit as a resolution to the specific Island mysteries and questions of the past six years.

All the scenes in the finale that were meant to tug on my heart strings did just that. The Kwons in the hospital... Locke's exchange with Ben...! And yet... I was really hoping for more meat to the episode.

Something interesting like Smoky was a good guy the whole time and that Jacob and his murderous adoptive mother was unjustly imprisoning some creature or force and using its power to do things. On (what we thought was) Earth 2, everyone was better off without the island or Jacob's influence so I thought we were going in that direction. And I think they missed an opportunity for a great reversal there. Anyway, that's where I thought they were going.

My girlfriend took great exception to the fantasy afterlife element (of the whole season, now, in retrospect) as it was A) way too churchy and B) "a big fat cheat." I can't say she doesn't have a point.

But still, like I said, heart strings were plucked and strummed.

 

[praxitas]

When Kate met up with Jack at the end of the musical and told him she's waited so long for him that confused me a bit. If Jack was all but dead when the plane flew overhead wouldn't he have died first or am I completely missing something obvious?

Also, in the alt lives that was more or less a what could have been without the island why would they have matched up jack and juliette?? I mean everyone remembered the island when they came in direct contact with someone else from the island so why would they have not make the connection prior.

The only things I really really wanted from the finally was Hurley to live and to get an answer as to where the polar bear came from. Since everyone technically was dead at the end I was ok with that, but come on where did flipping bear come from.....

Don't confuse my questions above with not liking the end. I did enjoy the ending a lot. It's nice to see happy endings and closure of an epic tv series like this. But, I really wish they dotted their eyes and finished crossing the t's. But, I suppose 6 yrs worth of questions wouldn't be the same without an ending that didn't leave more.

 

[p!tu]

When Kate met up with Jack at the end of the musical and told him she's waited so long for him that confused me a bit. If Jack was all but dead when the plane flew overhead wouldn't he have died first or am I completely missing something obvious?

Also, in the alt lives that was more or less a what could have been without the island why would they have matched up jack and juliette?? I mean everyone remembered the island when they came in direct contact with someone else from the island so why would they have not make the connection prior.

The only things I really really wanted from the finally was Hurley to live and to get an answer as to where the polar bear came from. Since everyone technically was dead at the end I was ok with that, but come on where did flipping bear come from.....

Don't confuse my questions above with not liking the end. I did enjoy the ending a lot. It's nice to see happy endings and closure of an epic tv series like this. But, I really wish they dotted their eyes and finished crossing the t's. But, I suppose 6 yrs worth of questions wouldn't be the same without an ending that didn't leave more.

dude the polar bear came from the freaking Dharma Initiative

 

[Darth Waller]

Also, in the alt lives that was more or less a what could have been without the island why would they have matched up jack and juliette?? I mean everyone remembered the island when they came in direct contact with someone else from the island so why would they have not make the connection prior.

My guess is a person didn't remember the island until they came into contact with that other person who made their life on the island have meaning. If that makes any sense.

 

[praxitas]

My guess is a person didn't remember the island until they came into contact with that other person who made their life on the island have meaning. If that makes any sense.

It does, but I thought Jack and Juliette had a thing too??

 

[Shropt]

That was perfect. I don't even care about what the island is, or anything else. Ultimately, it was about the characters, and they made it work. Before this finale, I wanted answers, now I couldn't care less.

I'm glad they went with the purgatory thing, we've seen these characters go through hell, and I'm glad to see them all end up happy.

I was so afraid Jack was going to end up alone, when I saw him laying down I kept thinking "Live together, die alone" and how sad it was that the hero was going to lay down and die by himself, then Vincent ran up to be with him. It was wonderful.

Loved how Jack and Flocke looking down the light mirrored the hatch scene at the end of Season 1. There were so many call-backs, it was great. I loved the moments of anticipation, waiting for Sawyer and Jack to get their "moments of realization" when I put it together that Juliet was at the hospital and Sawyer was walking around, that "A-Ha!!" moment was great.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Darth Waller]

It does, but I thought Jack and Juliette had a thing too??

They did, but maybe she wasn't the one. I always felt Jack/Kate was a better fit than Sawyer/Kate and Jack/Juliette. I know some of my Lost friends at work will be very happy with that.

 

[ChronoBreak]

Can't believe this is over!

and lol!

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[p!tu]

BEN is not going to move on without Alex & Danielle... thats what i think at least.

 

[Shropt]

Anyone else have a bunch of people at the office today saying "I told you! They were dead the whole time".

Frickin morons.

 

[praxitas]

Oh and I knew the bear came from the darma initiative, but why of all things did they have a polar bear and wouldn't it have died of old age by the time the plane crashed??