My friend Sara posted this on my Facebook Wall in response to the video I linked to earlier.
Leave it to someone to find all of the answers to the questions we were left with after the LOST finale.
It’s as amusing as the original LOST questions video was. Pretty clever.
Well, it’s over, and almost right away juries around the world began to weigh in on what was one of the most hyped series finales in recent memory. The LOST finale: The End. Before the final episode opinions, objections, predictions and criticisms flew left, right and centre. Would we have our questions answered? Would we be left hanging? Would we be satisfied? Would fans feel appropriately rewarded for their six years of loyalty? Since everyone and their uncle is offering their review I, of course, must add mine to the chorus of voices. So, here we go…
I rarely like the stuff put out by College Humor but, for a LOST fan, this video is absolutely brilliant:
I think it’s impossible not to frame this review in a particular context: this is the last regular episode of LOST, ever. The penultimate LOST episode. The almost-an-end-of-an-era episode. The fat lady is about to sing, and it’s impossible to get past that. But, all that said, I want to take a second to step back and try to see the longview. Have hopes and expectations lined up with reality? Is it going in the direction we thought it would? What’s up?
If there’s one thing that I think every LOST fan can agree on, aside from the fact that the show is awesome, is that we haven’t been getting nearly as many answers as we expected. I think it’s funny, as this debate rages on, that there are those who act like apologists for LOST’s writers. We get the slightest little hint at an answer and they’re all over it to say, “See! We are getting our questions answered!” They work so hard to help us find merit in every episode despite the fact that we’re constantly disappointed. These guys are real troopers and I think we have to applaud their incredible faith. But, guys, let’s be realistic: no one is pleased with the amount of question that have been answered—we’re all disappointed.
But should we have expected more? Did we really think that we’d get all of our questions answered? I mean, deep down inside did we? From its inception, LOST has been about leaving us hanging, about piling on more and more mystery instead of explaining it away. This show has never been about tying things up neatly with a bow, and I don’t think we should expect anymore, not from this final season and, I would suggest, probably not from the finale either. In fact, they’ve so much as told us that they aren’t going to explain it all, that we won’t be left completely satisfied. If we chalk that up to the nature of the beast, then I think we can atleast get on with it.
This week’s episode of LOST, like the earlier Richard-centric episode, was entirely a flashback. I don’t think we saw any of these kind of episodes during earlier seasons so it’s pretty neat to see two in the final run. Like Richard’s episode, “Across the Sea” did a lot to move the good vs. evil plot forward and reveal to us a bit more of what the island is really about. Do we come away really knowing anything new? I don’t know, I’m still on the fence about that. But it was a solid episode with lots of information and a lot of intriguing developments. An enormous 2,200-word essay is below the break…
Someone I was talking to last week predicted that LOST would end with a twist. The twist would be that there was going to be another season. How I wish that were true! With only two episodes remaining before the 2-hour 2.5-hour season finale, I feel like we’re wringing our hands in desperation, wondering what to do next, once our beloved television program ends. I think maybe we’ll join a cult.
But in all seriousness, LOST has become more than a mere television show for those who have remained faithful through all six seasons. It’s become this wild journey, this all-consuming mystery—it’s taken on a life of its own. I remember sitting on the bed with Maria, my wife (then girlfriend), in her dank basement apartment—student housing!—in Waterloo going through the first season of LOST on DVD. She was sick that weekend and we had nothing to do so we watched LOST, which we heard from friends was good. The apartment was later gutted after being plagued by plumbing and mold problems and I did develop a significant mold allergy later that year but was it worth it? I’ll leave that to you to decide.
Damon Lindelof, one of the talented writer’s for TV’s LOST sat down with The Hollywood Reporter this past week to talk about the show’s 2-hour finale. The full text and video interview can be found here, and I thought I’d spend a few minutes going through the cliffnotes, and adding some of my own ideas and wild theories.
