lost

Well I’ve had time to think more about the finale and the utter shock and emotion I felt last night has sunk in a bit.

I am an emotional mess about my favorite show coming to an end after my 6 years of obsessive loyal viewership.  Through it all, I’ve had family and friends complain about the show, whether it was the “ludicrous” idea of a monster on the island, or if the time travel just got too much for them.  I would always staunchly defend my show, because in my eyes I was just along for the ride.

Scrolling through Twitter and Facebook last night and this morning, I read all of the strong opinions, mostly negative.  It makes me a bit sad that some of my friends feel as if they “wasted six years” of their life, etc. but I can’t deny the disappointment that I also felt when we learned that the ATL was a sort of afterlife meetup for our Losties to find each other after death and move on together.

Yes, I wanted more answers.  Why was Walt special?  What was the purpose of the Hanso Foundation, the Dharma Initiative, Charles Widmore? It’s been fun to sit back and think about all of the island mythology and wonder whether or not what we were being told about Jacob was the truth.

People are unhappy that Darlton and others connected with the show are using the “cop-out” that Lost has always been a show about the characters and not necessarily about the mysteries and mythology.  Does it sound like a cop-out to me?  Sure, I can see how it sounds like laziness on their part….But why am I satisfied with the ending?

A while ago I “ran into” an old friend from middle school on Facebook and he wrote on my wall asking if I was still a fan of Star Trek and The Beatles.  It was hilarious to me that those two things were what he remembered about me, and then I realized that yes, I am still a big fan of both Star Trek and The Beatles. (stick with me)

What I love about Star Trek is that we have our beloved characters, interacting with the unknown, each other and their own selves.  I love Star Trek for the characters.  For Mr. Spock’s raised eyebrow, Kirk’s confidence and skirt-chasing ways, Scotty’s hot-headedness and unending love for the ship.  The outrageous environments and situations they find themselves in are amusing and interesting, but at the end of the show our crew is back on the ship together, having learned something about themselves in the process.

What I love about Lost is the characters.  The way they started their lives together with distrust, serious relationship issues and checkered pasts.  Jack with his savior complex, Sayid’s quest for redemption and Locke’s need to be needed.  The outrageous situations on the island have been more than interesting, dare I say fascinating but at the end of the show, our Lostaways need each other.  In order to transcend their broken lives, they must battle their demons and live together or die alone.

It all sounds cliche and cheesy, but it’s my blog, my opinion, right?   Now for the Beatles.  What’s my favorite album?  Abbey Road, hands down.  Yes, there are better singles on other albums, but there’s something like all the short songs, all so different and random, blending together in such a seemless way that you just can’t play one without playing the next.

Every time I checked my DVR to make sure the finale was set to tape (don’t laugh, I’m OCD) I looked at the title “The End” and sang that one line from the Abbey Road swan song with the same name: “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”  How fitting, right?  In the end, as our characters face their deaths it’s not about “the numbers”, it’s not about the Black Rock or Dharma stations.  They come to peace with their lives by remembering each other and remembering love.

I can see the frustration that many of you have with the ending of the show.  We have all invested years of our lives thinking about the show and theories, etc. I think you have every right to feel however you feel, but I can honestly say that I am happy with The End.

So yes, this post is a total love-fest and as fruity as it gets.  It contains no answers, but take it as my swan song to Lost.

For a couple theories that I really like, check out this post about how the ATL may have been Hurley’s gift to the castaways (I like the idea that his “island management style” is about giving instead of Jacob’s possessive hoarding style).  This one seems a bit more flawed, but I like the scenarios that the ATL provided our characters.

And of course, if you have theories or thoughts I’d love to hear them!

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Ok, so I’m not even going to bother with the whole picture, spoiler warning, etc.

It is 1:35 in the morning, I technically can’t say “Tonight’s Lost” but since this is the last time I’m able to say it, I will

I’m going to wait and give an actual recap post when I have more time to think.  This is really just my initial impressions.

I’m not going to say I was disgusted and disappointed in the ending of my favorite show, but I also can’t say that it lived up to my expectations and fulfilled my every wish.  It is just very different from what I had believed we were going to have, that I’m kind of in a state of shock.

What I think we learned in tonight’s episode is that the ALT/ATL/Alternate Time Line was really an afterlife…ok, c’mon, PURGATORY that the characters had to work through after their deaths in order to move on to the other side.  What doesn’t make sense to me is, what is the actual purpose of the island?  We recently saw Michael on the island, and he led us to the reveal that the whispers are actually those that are stuck there and can’t move on.  Why is it that Michael knows that he is dead, but is still stuck?  Juliet died on the island and yet she was living in this alternate world, completely unaware until she connected with Sawyer. (Did that even make any sense?)

When did each of our Losties actually die?  Now some of this is obvious, like Locke died in the hotel room after Ben strangled him (I did appreciate Ben’s apology to Locke outside of the church), Jack died in the bamboo field after suffering his MIB inflicted injuries, but what went on with Claire, Kate, Sawyer, etc.?  Did the Ajira flight out of the island make it?  The way Jack sees it fly overhead, it would seem to me that it made it, but we even see baby Aaron in the ATL, when did Aaron die?  My head is about to explode.

I’m sure we are never going to be able to fully figure out a lot of the questions and mysteries of this show, but I’m hoping that given a bit of sleep and some more thought I can give you a true finale recap.

I’d love to hear your initial thoughts on whether you loved/hated this ending.  I loved many parts, but ultimately this is what I wanted to see happen:

Our Losties, from Richard to Dharma-era to 815, were all brought to the island as candidates for the Jacob/MIB struggle over the “heart of the island” protection thing.  When the fight comes down to Jack vs. MIB, Jack succeeds in destroying the island, while not killing MIB.  All of the deaths, etc. are course corrected and flight 815 lands just as we saw it in the ATL, and our Losties come together in some type of big reunion (almost like what we had, but they’d be alive) where they became aware of their island past and connections, but were living happily in the present.  Also flash to Richard growing old and living a normal life in modern society and MIB back in his body breathing in city air somewhere.

Ok, fantasy land over.  Time for me to go to bed and return to the “reality” of our Lost ending tomorrow.  We’ll talk more soon.

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