Monday, May 24, 2010

my thoughts on the lost finale

As you probably know, I am obsessed with Lost. It finally came to an end last night, and overall I'd have to say I'm pleased - with both the finale and the entire story.

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***


First off, I watched the finale at the drafthouse which was pretty fun. When the show ended, and the "LOST" came up on the screen, I think that was the quietest the crowd had been the entire night. I imagine it was a combination of people being confused, absorbing what they just watched, and I'm sure some people were also disappointed.

I thought the finale was pretty damn good, but the reason I thought that was because eventually I let go of my expectations (I'm sure all the "let go" references in the show were also veiled comments to the audience, too) and just accepted the story they were telling us. At that point I stopped being so critical and I just enjoyed the story unfold.

I know there are some people who are hugely disappointed with the show, and I think those are the people who were more invested in the mythology and mysteries, and weren't really in it for the characters. Unfortunately, the producers have always said the characters come first. The show, in my opinion, was not about people being lost on an island. It was about people being lost in their lives. The story was about them "finding themselves" and seeking redemption from their flaws, with the help of each other.

Yes we all could have used more answers, but there is another problem in that - the show was part sci-fi. Any possible answer they could have given us for things that are fiction would have been disappointing. I read on a critic's review where they compared it to the meaning of life. If we were told what the meaning of life was, chances are we would be disappointed in the answer. The mystery and fun come in the unknown. Let's take the "whispers" and their explanation, for example. It is a perfectly feasible explanation, and yet it was kind of underwhelming. It wasn't so much the fault of the writers. Rather simply, there is no explanation to that kind of huge mystery that would have all of us saying, "how awesome!"

I'm kind of perplexed by how many people are confused about who was dead and when. It seems like they practically spelled it out on the show. If I understood right, everyone on the island either died on the island (Jack and everyone before), or died later (unseen on the show). The 'flash sideways' was an afterlife of sorts (open to interpretation), at a point after everyone died. And yet I see people theorizing that the island was purgatory, or that everyone was dead from the beginning. I don't see how that makes sense, what do you think? If they were all dead, then what? They had island "purgatory" and then also flash sideways "purgatory"? What would be the point of two "realms of existence" if they were dead in both? Also I think the last scene - where they panned across and showed Christian's shoe stuck up on the tree - practically proved that they weren't dead and the events on the island all actually happened. The shoe was completely worn and time had clearly passed.

Some people got confused by the wreckage they showed at the end of the episode - but that wasn't even part of the official episode. That was just footage ABC put up, in lieu of a promo for another show, I guess as an homage to the whole journey. But people started analyzing it and thought that maybe it was proof that no one survived or something. Who knows.

Overall, it's sad to see it come to an end - when will we have another show like this that both dares to be original and creative, and also draws such a huge community? Lost is untouched, in my opinion, in terms of the whole experience and journey. People who watch the show after it aired won't get the same experience of huddling with coworkers and friends, or on the internet, endlessly theorizing and over-analyzing pieces of the show. The writing hasn't always been great, there have been loopholes and missteps, and season 6 had its faults. In the end though, I'm grateful that I picked up the show and followed it religiously since season 1.

At least we have still Dexter (which I recommend if you don't watch it)!

Thank you, namaste, and good luck