I really liked the Lost finale last night. And not just because I hosted a fun party for it :) Made some yummy junk food, someone brought a Dharma cake, cocktails were made. The most fun was that then whenever a long-lost character showed up or a plot line took a wacky turn, we all OOOOHHHed, AAAHHHed, DOHed! at the same time. Was a very fun viewing :)
And I feel they wrapped up enough to make the story seem complete. Did they fully explain a myriad of smaller plotlines and devices? No. Why there was a rampaging polar bear? What was real and what was “purgatory”? Did anyone actually survive that crash? Or was it all purgatory? I could think of a 100 questions without even really thinking hard! And then 100 more just from last night’s episode!
In the first season I called the “island as purgatory” scenario. I was obviously not the only one. The writers were asked this exact question at the Comic Con panel years ago where they flatly denied it was. Now, does that mean they lied to people? Or does it mean they chickened out on an original storyline they had planned and chose this path as the easy one in the last season? Who knows. But it wrapped up nicely. And really – why would they answer that question honestly if it would then give up so many future plot line surprises. Who cares if they lied about it? I’ve read more than one person moaning about this online and it annoyed me. Why should they give up their storyline to a reporter or fan at a panel just because you asked? They weren’t on trial or testifying at a Congressional Hearing. Besides, if they were alive on that island, then it wasn’t purgatory. If you don’t watch the show, you are scratching your head right about now…heck, if you do watch the show you probably are too :)
I like that the show was always a fight between the belief in faith or science (like X-Files was at the beginning.) And how the people who fought those battles changed. I like that they chose to end the show on a more upbeat note even while not shying away from subject of the death and the demise of popular characters. I like that the show made me tear up or just flat out cry and NOT in a Lifetime movie way :) But in an ohmygodicantbelievetheyjustdidthat! way.
I loved the characters. Even the ones I hated! Jack’s constant stress of being a leader. Locke’s constant challenging of Jack’s disbelief in believing. Locke’s plain ol’ kick assness. Sawyer’s wise-ass remarks and name calling (and yes, ok..his chest.) Hurley’s Star Wars references (and Sawyer’s. And Miles’) Sun and Jin. Ben (Henry Gale!) Desmond…being Penny’s Constant. Sayid’s bad-ass-ness. Every character on this show was great – even ones that were pretty obvious redshirts. And ones that were very much bad guys. It’s probably one of the only TV shows (or books or movies) where I didn’t have an obvious front-running favorite character. They were all so good and fun to watch. It was a character-driven show and, in The End, that was more important than the mythology of the show. The writers wrapped up characters, not necessarily plot lines. I am OK with that.
Do I have a million unanswered questions? Yes I do. Am I sad I will no longer get answers to any of them? Yes I am. Am I sad I no longer have watching Lost to look forward to? Very much so. I think any story – TV, movie, book comic book, etc that can wake me up in the middle of the night pondering what happened and asking questions and having endless debate with friends about characters and plots is evidence of a good story with good writing and characters. And I will miss it. Television is filled with a bazillion channels of a gazillion hours of vomit-worthy “entertainment” so it’s sad when something that is actually good and captivating goes away, only to be replaced by some mind-numbing reality show.
I woke up at 4am this morning thinking about Jack’s end. And the last minutes of the show. And stressing about it. Sad about Jack dying there alone. Was Jack ever alive on the island at all though? Did they all just crash land and die and then were in purgatory/the way station/whatever you want to call it? And most importantly, if they did die – who the hell was going to take care of Vincent?! Which started me stressing about my doggies. Which is likely where the initial stress came from since I was taking Storm to the vet this morning. My mind just doesn’t like to shut off…:)
But besides giving fans some closure on where these characters ended up, they really made me happy that they brought Vincent the dog back. Every single review of the finale and blog about it today mentioned this as a triple bonus-points move. And he was there at The End along with my tears…
Jack and Vincent
