The Final Episode of Lost

"And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.  But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.  All their life in this world and all their adventures [on the island] had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read:  which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." ~ C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

“And love is not an easy thing, the only baggage you can bring, it’s all that you can’t leave behind.”  ~U2, “Walk On”

Yesterday we said farewell (or Namaste) to one of the greatest (and my favorite) television shows ever created.  There was much debate before the finale on whether it would live up to fan expectations.  Would the Lost writers be able to give the viewers a finale we were happy with?  Would “The End” be true to everything that has made this show remarkable?  Would it take the place among some of the most talked about endings in television history?  My opinion:  it certainly did.  “The End” was a wonderful, beautiful, moving tribute to characters that we have grown to love over the past six years.  It was a fitting end to the central themes of this show and while fans might not have received all the answers they wanted, we got moments between characters that beat any satisfaction those answers could have given.

We learned that Sideways Universe is a stopping point on the way to the afterlife.  A place where those who have died can meet all of those who mattered most to them in the real world, and where they can enter “the world to come” together.  Some would call it “purgatory” which is ironic because there was always a lot of speculation that the Island was exactly that, but the Island wasn’t; this place was.  I think the alt-timeline as the transitory point, a world between two worlds, makes perfect sense considering the rest of this season.  Throughout this season, the characters in that timeline have completed the path to redemption that they started in the real timeline.  They each began to think less selfishly and more about those around them, those they cared about, strangers they met, and learned to accept themselves for who they were.  Most importantly people like Jack, John, Sawyer, learned to “let go” of what was holding them back.  Because of this completion they were now ready to enter heaven, but one more piece had to fall in place.  They had to remember the people that changed them and helped them become the people they now were.  Once they did they were able they could all “move on” together because “love is all that you can’t leave behind.”

This ending also validates everything that happened on the Island.  It was all real.  It did all matter.  The castaways were brought there for a reason, and through their trials and experiences there, they learned to be better people.  The Island itself was some kind of life source that if extinguished would cause world collapse.  Or at least the collapse of the souls of everyone in the world.  (Still not completely clear on that, but that’s okay.  We know it’s very bad.)  I got the impression that there would always be people who wanted to extinguish or take advantage of the light, and so the island would always need a protector.  That’s also why they were brought to that island.  But the “rules” that protector made, depended on the personality of who that person was.  Hurley, as Ben implied, would probably be a better protector than both of his predecessors because he cared about people more than anyone on the show.

I thought the scenes on the Island gave us a nice dose of the action, suspense and comedy that we've come to expect from Lost, but it was the sideways stories that made the show.  Jack’s mantra throughout the show has been, “If we don’t live together, we’re going to die alone.”  And I think this episode was a fitting commentary on that.  We won’t die alone Jack.  Everyone we love is with us.  (And not even Jack had to die alone in the real world, Vincent was there with him in the end!)  That last scene was brilliant with the last thing him seeing is the plane taking off.

There were mysteries and questions that were never answered.  Why was Walt special?  Did Aaron have some bigger significance?  Where did that outrigger in Season 5 come from?  Even little episode flaws, like how did Ben get out from under that tree?  And while these may be weaknesses with the storytelling, I’m okay not knowing the answers because I’d much rather see the interactions between characters that the Lost writers gave us.

My top favorite moments from the Sideways world in the Finale:

5. Hurley’s face when he went to pick up Charlie for the concert.  There was this wonderful joy in his eyes and smile and voice because he was finally seeing the friend he had lost so long ago.  I almost forgot how close they used to be in those first three seasons.  I also loved being able to see Hurley as the one with more information than everyone else. 

4.  John Locke’s conversation with Ben outside the church.  Ben’s apology, Locke’s forgiveness and then Ben telling Locke that he could walk.  The scenes between those two actors are part of what has made these this show amazing these past few years and that scene was no exception.  It was nice to see a reconciliation between our two Island masterminds.  It was interesting to see that Ben didn't go in with the rest of them, but I guess he's going in with Alex.  He still has to do some more time making up for what he's done.

3.  Sawyer and Juliet’s Reunion:  They were my favorite Lost couple and their moment of awareness was so touching and beautiful. Seeing their reaction to the moment where Sawyer had to let her go was heartbreaking.  And the writers did a great job interweaving the dialogue from their last conversation together into what they said to each other in that moment.  I love those two.

2. Kate helping Claire give birth.  Just typing about this scene makes me start crying all over again.  I don’t know what about it made it so emotional for me.  I was never a huge Kate or Claire fan, but seeing their reactions to Aaron being born was pretty overwhelming.

1. Christian Shepherd’s conversation with Jack and the final scene in the church.  Matthew Fox can win his Emmy for that.  I watched the scene again so I could pay attention to what Christian was saying, and I was more of a tearful, crying mess than the first time.  I watched it a third time, and I was even worse.  (I think I’ll hold off on the re-watching for now.)  Watching Jack enter the church and greet people like Des and John and Sawyer was again so moving. (I’m crying again.) I loved having all those characters there in one spot.  Because that was what this show was about at its heart, not mysteries and theories and mythology, although that was a lot of fun, but people.  Flawed and beautiful people.

The more I think and write about this finale, the more I realize how much I love it and how perfect it was for me.  I know there are people out there who didn’t like it because we didn’t get all our answers, and it became very spiritual and sentimental in the end, and while maybe that’s a criticism for some people, I think that’s also the point of the show.  We never going to get all the answers we want.  Life doesn’t work that way.  And life is about the spirit.  It is about emotions and sentiment.  That’s what makes it worth it.  I loved watching every minute of that finale, and I believe it brought the show to a perfect closure because in “The End” it’s all about the people we meet, the relationships we forge, the love we create.

I’m very thankful to the Lost writers, cast, and crew for creating this story.  I know I’m going to carry it with me for a while.