Monday, May 24, 2010
News The Televangelist: 'Lost' Series Finale
Posted by Allison Keene @keeneTV on Mon, May 24, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Two words: it worked.
... Right?
Where to begin? To give this Epic Event its due, I need to break it down into three parts: Reunions, The Plug and The Last 10 Minutes. In retrospect I should have done a photographic timeline to show my changing moods, but in any case, I'm trying to get this post out as fast as I can so let's roll!
Reunions
This worked for me. Every time people in the sideways timeline became aware of their island selves, I was pleased. Yes, it's true ... I might have even shed a few jears. As couples and friends were reunited, it reminded me who these people were and why, at least at one point, I cared about them. The timelines effectively merged (despite Eloise's warnings - why was she against this?), so that our alt-timeline quasi-strangers remembered their other lives in full and in one fell swoop so that we got a double emotional gratification - that Dead is not Dead, and nothing was a waste*. I don't know who made me the most emotional - Jin and Sun finally coming together with their baby, Claire and Charlie finding each other a la Penny and Desmond, or Juliet and Sawyer in the Apollo-bar-of-destiny "it worked" moment. Or was it John Locke, who finally caught a goddamn break?
Of course, easily annoyed viewers like myself will be quick to note the absence of so many of our favorite cast members like, say, all the black people - where was Eko? Walt? Michael? all those other randoms we met along the way? I won't harp on this, though - at this point in 4.5 hour finale event I was pretty satisfied with the emotional payout, while simultaneously raging against the suffocating amount of commercial breaks (without one "True Blood" promo as had originally been promised!) And then came ...
The Ancient Unexplained Plug of Yore
So not only is the island a cork, but there's a cork IN the island. After the "glowing toilet of magic" episode, I gave up on the island mythology. This had been my favorite part of "Lost," and the least-considered by Darlton (in my mind). If you're looking for plot holes, confusion and contradiction, the Plug welcomes you to its lair. For one, apparently being Jacob is no big deal. It doesn't afford you any special powers or protection, and you can pass it along without any incantation. Jacob had no idea how much trouble he was going to over nothing! Also, if he hadn't been such a 'fraidy cat, he could have gone and pulled that plug LONG ago, therefore rendering MIB human and able to die. Or something. (I mean, how understated was Kate shooting him and that being it, after all this time and all the trouble he caused?)
It seems that, ultimately, none of that mattered, which is a shame. I do believe that Darlton had a clear idea of how they wanted certain key characters to mature and where they were ultimately headed - that you can make your own choice to be a force for good and awaken to your potential at any time (this is starting to sound like the basis of an Oprah Book Club selection) - but as far as island mysteries go, I can't help but think every episode was a surprise to them as much as it was to us.
The Last 10 Minutes
Finally, we come to the moments that will divide fans forever. It's the "Who Shot JR? moment, the "Seinfeld" ending, the "Sopranos" cut-off all over again. Either you loved it or you hated it or you will be confused and somewhat annoyed for the rest of your life. I'm not even entirely sure what happened, to be honest. Was it heaven? Purgatory (except probably not, given that extremely heavy-handed non-denominational stained glass behind Jack), is it just Jack's heaven? Or a collectively-created heaven where people go to "remember and let go?" Why are only couples invited? Why is Christian alive? Why did Dharma/ the time travel / the Freighter / Widmore / Abaddon / Dharma Sharks / Smokey / Walt / Polar Bears / etc matter? To address my asterisk from earlier about whether their island lives were all meaningful or a waste (I'd like to think they meant something, or at least lead to off-island growth and happiness), it depends on how you interpret this last scene. Believe me, I am looking for theories in the comments (at the moment of trying to post this as the episode finishes up, my brain is more than fried).
To quote Band of Horses, "the end's not near ... it's here." Folks, I guess that's it. I want to thank all of you who hung around this season and experienced "Lost" with me - It's been an amazing journey and I loved discussing it with so many of you. This is actually the first finale of a major show that I've caught as it happened (finally). I cannot wait to hear your thoughts / feelings / impressions on the series below - it may be the last time any of us discuss something so endearingly ridiculous (or ridiculously endearing) for quite some time.
See you in another blog, Brothas.
Musings and Miscellanea:
- "... This would be so sweet if we weren't all about to die" - Hurley to Jack and Kate
- Lapidus: can survive a sinking sub and fix a plane with duct tape
- Did the Ajira plane leave the island? What happened to those folks for the rest of their island-timeline life? Do I sense a movie?
- In "heaven," surely Sayid would be with Nadia, the love of his life rather than that vapid trollop Shannon.
- Jack and Juliet seemed to have a rather amicable divorce.
- I did like the eye opening to eye closing ... full circle.
- Is it in "Lost" actor's contracts that they have to show up whenever the show needs them, even for a 5-second camera pan? (Looking at you, Liam Pace of DriveShaft)
- I missed Smokey dying for many reasons, but especially because he had all the best lines - I loved the "old times in the Hatch" convo.
- I really loved the "Lost"-themed Target commercials, especially the smoke detector. As my friend Dekalb noted, the CGI Smoke seemed better on the commercial than in the show! Speaking of, I couldn't help but laugh at those fakey styrofoam rocks during the island-quake. Same goes for that amazingly bad jump cut from the Ajira flight soaring off with uplifting music, then cut to Jack, "Meanwhile, back in Hell ...."
- If the cabin really belonged on the MIB rather than Jacob, did he paint that portrait of Vincent? Who do you guys think Vincent really was? I think he was connected to Christian in some way. Also, why was MIB such pals with Claire?
- Locke forgiving Ben was a big moment - two fantastic actors sharing the screen one last time (sniff). I was sure someone from the Emmy committee was going to walk out and give both Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson their due right then and there!
- "See you in another life, Brother" - Jack to Des.
- How did the MIB get flushed down to the magic light and shoot out as a Smoke Monster almost instantly? There was an entire cavern down there!
- "Jacob being who he was ... aren't you kinda the obvious choice?" - Flocke to Jack, in yet another perfectly quotable moment.
- Whatever happened to Richard? Why did he say he finally wanted to live? He's BEEN living for centuries - his people are all dead, what does he have to go back to? I would think once he found the gray hair he would have wanted to slip, finally, into the sweet release of death.
- Just as we always suspected, Desmond appears to be the key to everything.
- But, in case we forgot it was still The Jack Shepard Show, the number 23 was all over the screen last night, from the table at the concert to the fateful Apollo Bar of Destiny's number choice on the vending machine.
Comments (13)
Showing 1-13 of 13
Of course the island mattered, and they weren't dead there - yet. Christian's words in the finale were the most carefully crafted ones in the whole series, and he said the most important part of their "lives" was the time they spent together on the island. So they were alive there... until they died there. That's why Jack was the last to arrive at the funeral. He was the last to die on the island. Once you die there, you go to their "happy place."
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It could have been worse. Alas we've known for a while that it was always supposed to be about the characters and not the mythology, and I feel they nicely concluded their journeys. That being said, the mythology is utterly ridiculous. I believe it was Locke who once said to Richard, "I'm beginning to think you just make these rules up as you go." Couldn't have said it any better.
I don't have a whole lot of answers...but I will throw in that I think Eloise didn't want the whole "waking up" thing to happen because she doesn't want to let go of Daniel. Since she shot him, she doesn't want him to remember that and leave her. Personally, I thought the whole "purgatory" thing (or whatever it is) was kind of a cop-out. Even if that's what they intended it to be, it seems kinda lazy. And after all that time that Darlton promised that the characters weren't done and the island isn't purgatory or hell...to just make the alternate timeline into that seems icky and kinda misleading. I liked the character development and closure in the finale, but I was a little let down by the explanation. And yeah, there are so many things that seemed so important that still aren't explained. (Like island pregnancies? What the hell the light was? How Smokey really came about? Why Desmond is so awesome? How the island keeps moving around in time/space? Is the island some kind of sentient thing that draws people in? (Or was that all Jacob?))
Drew, you said that perfectly Fruppi, that makes complete sense about Eloise, I hadn't thought about that Agreed on all accounts! You guys summed it up better than I - essentially, it was emotionally rewarding but logistically problematic
overall, i was disappointed. i felt this was a "Sixth Sense" copout. With how extraordinary the writing was the first 3 seasons, i felt that when it was time to actually start thinking about a proper ending they took the lazy way out. that being said, i get it now. simply put, the island is purgatory. jacob and the man in black died before they were even born. the then became the guardians of the purgatory and brought along others who died but had unfinished business in their lives. Oceanic 815. only the people with unfinished business was alive on the island. they were to stay their until they could let go. none of the members of the second part of the plane with the exception of Rose's husband, Bernard, was there in the church at the end. remember Bernard's seat was in the first part but he had to go to the bathroom. So i guess that can explain why he ended up there. Desmound was special key so i guess that can explain his presence as well. but no one ended up on the island without having some sort of tragedy happening to them, except darhma members. We don't actually know how they actually found or came to the island but everyone else crashed there by boat, plane or balloon. so we can assume they they all died and stayed there until they were able to let go. That brings us to people like Mr. Ecko. He died as soon as we as able to let go of the guilt he had for his brother. Michael and some others had to stay there longer because of what they did once they got there. so i guess they can't move on for way longer. same with ben linus. what happened to Walt wasn't explained. there was never a backstory for henry gaile, the balloon rider who's identity was stolen by Ben Linus. This was a reference to the Wizard of Oz though. there was a henry gaile and a balloon in that movie as well. yes, the black people were poorly respresented, expecially the last 3 seasons. Walt, who started out to be so "special" turned out to be meaningless once he left the island. however, i guess this can be explained by him moving on but his father having to return for his island sins. they all needed each other to move on. so i guess once they separated that through the whole island purgatory out of wack. some members were creating their off island purgatory while others were creating an on island purgatory. they needed to be together to move on to the next level. so returning back to the island helped them get to the same place. then they just needed to find each other. i guess in order to find each other they need to destroy the island to end it all. this is more speculation. i believe the second off island purgatory was the one that Hurley created. He was now in charge of purgatory. so he created one in which the plane never crashed. then he brought them all together again. i will have to rewatch the off island clips to pickup more clues. so he brought them together again under his way and they were able to move on. the final seconds were their to show you that there were never any survivors. jack had on a suit at the church in the end that was very similar to the one he had on in the pilot. he also went to sleep with staring up at bamboo just as the dog came. in the beginning, he wokeup staring at bamboo just as the dog came. so it ended just as it began. yes this one of those finales that you can only appreciate after further contemplation and time. just like the other examples you gave like sopranos finale. yes i do belive that it could have been better writing. i think it clearly wasn't a laid planned from the beginning. there is definatley a clearly different thought process from the first 3 seasons than the last 3 seasons. for me i'm still wandering about stuff that was really important to the story. what was up with the numbers. why was desmond so special, what was the deal with Walt. why were children and select members kidnapped. why was there a darhma initiative. where they all dead before they got there too? less important lose ends that still bother me were what was the man in black's name? maybe jacob didn't even know since they were technically dead before knowing each other. who was henry gale? in conclusion, this is the problem with all storyline tv shows that i've seen so far. unlike movies, they don't have to prewrite the entire story first. that's why you get crappy lose ends. sometimes they are acceptable. i haven't decided if the 6 years/seasons of anticipation and suspense was worth it yet. it's like watching a really long movie with really long breaks. had i just watched it all at once it would be fine. watching 1 season at a time and in some cases one show at a time i should have gotten more out of it. but at least it wasn't a complete train wreck like Heroes turned out to be. and the show overall was far better than the sopranos. Here is to hoping that Breaking Bad doesn't suffer the same fate of flawed writing and conclusion when it ends. so far it's turning out to be better. maybe people are learning as they make more shows to this caliber.
I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during the writing and production meetings of LOST. Just imagine!
OMG! I can't believe anyone is whining about this ending! Lindelof/Cuse have said all along they knew EXACTLY how it was going to end, even in the beginning. And, in true "Lost" fashion, they have left it up to the viewers to draw our own conclusions. Jeez, this show gave us credit for having a brain and for going along on the ride-why take everything so literally? Why can't we take it on faith, which was part of the main question of the whole show? Faith/Fate and becoming a redeemed, healed & forgiven person became the journey of these characters-the island and everything on it were the vehicles aiding their travel. The fact that they ended up where everyone eventually ends up (dead)and were brought together to move on was the completion of all they had been through, the discovery of what they had ALL been looking for, which was tied to their island experiences (& each other). Who knows why Michael or Mr. Eko weren't there? Mr. Eko had found what he was looking for by the time he died and maybe so had Michael (by returning & trying to right a wrong). I don't need nitpicky answers to everything-I enjoyed the wonderful roller coaster of a ride, the mysteries, the "huh?"s, and all these great characters whom I will miss very much. Thanks SO much, Darlton!!
My response to the 'Lost' finale was a.) it presented a pleasant depiction of the afterlife; b.) "Darlton" have some collective cojones to end the show in a way bound to infuriate people who, you know, care about the PLOT of 'Lost;' c.) the implication is that when Juliet blew up the nuke at the end of last season, it didn't really 'work,' since everyone was dead in the alternate time-line. It's funny -- when I watched the season premiere, I remember seeing the teaser (Juliet explodes bomb, Jack chats with Desmond on the un-crashed plane, we see the sunken island), and for an instant I considered NOT watching the rest of the season, because that would possibly be a more satisfying ending than the real one. And, in retrospect, it would have been.
Michael was not in the alt because he is trapped in the island purgatory. Walt wasn't there because everyone appeared as they were on the island (even Aaron) but the actor who plays Walt is way too big now. Mr. Echo went to his own alt/pergatory right after he died (he is seen walking with Yemi as a child after he closes his eyes). The Season 2 episode "?" even hinted at this twist ending because the girl who had drowned told Eco she saw Yemi "between places".
luckysmake, I can't believe this needs to be repeated again but some people do not seem to get it. The Island was not purgatory. Everything on the island happened. The "Alternate" time line was not an alternate time line at all, but a flash forward to an afterlife that they all created to be together and resolve the issues they had in life. Once resolved they could all let go and move on. They created the afterlife together because the most important time of their lives was together on the island. Christian said it all in the last 10 minutes. It's like some people were not paying attention for the most important part. In my opinion the important questions were answered, and the other ones could have been answered but would not have changed any of the outcomes. All fiction is like this, but lost just had more questions than most stories so everyone is making a larger deal then it is. Why does Superman get super powers when he is near the earths sun? How do dilithium crystals power the enterprise? I never got the answers to these questions from the movies/TV shows. No one cares, why do they with LOST.
Also, Jack was not the last to die. Hurley and Ben could have spend 1000 years protecting the island as #1 and #2 after Jacks death. There was no time or place in the Alternate/Afterlife flashes. Side note - Awesome idea for a spin off: The adventures of Hurley and Ben, Protectors of the Island! Think of the wacky adventures they could get into. Just kidding.
Awesome job Allison. It's been a great run. Was out on tour and just watched the finale tonight. My mind is kinda blown right now and I'm just trying to let the emotional thing stir around a bit. Tomorrow I may be upset, but tonight I'm soaking in the resolution.
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