Monday, May 24, 2010

LOST: The End

Joe, Ellen, Mary and Ed came by to watch the series finale of LOST tonight.  We first started off with some honey wings from Jewel (a must have at your next gathering) and a monster pizza from Nino's in Buffalo Grove (another staple in any Buffalo Grove Jao gathering).  We ate beforehand so there would be no interruptions during the show.

So instead of going through bullet points about the show, I will just talk in free-form about the show and the series as a whole.

I watched this show juggling two different mindsets.  The first mindset was the pure entertainment factor.  After watching 6 seasons worth of this show, I realized that I simply loved the ride that it took me on.  Whether upset or not, it took me some time to as the show would say "let go" and just enjoy it for what it is, a show.  It isn't supposed to fill any void in my life or be the reason I wake up everyday.  It's supposed to be something that I enjoy.  So midway through this season I did exactly that.  I "let go" and finished the ride.  Now of course the other mindset is to GET ANSWERS.  My co-workers and I went as far as to list a set of questions before this last season started on a white board at work.  Questions like "who was shooting at them in the canoe?" and "who dropped the food on the island?" and "why was Libby in  the sanitarium?" All legitimate questions from the prior seasons.  I allowed the "entertainment" mindset take over this episode just as I did most of this season with the "answers now" mindset only sneaking in when something was revealed or answered.  So here are my two mindset (confusing at times) views on this finale.

The whole time, the alternate timeline was a purgatory for everyone.  According to Christian, it does not exist on any timeline.  People will die, either before you or long after you, but in "the end" you will be with the ones that you love or had meaning in your life.  It seemed very "What Dreams May Come".  Apparently Damon and Carlton denied that the island was a purgatory, apparently they were telling the truth.  It was only after the island exploded in the 1970's that the purgatory was even brought up.  I am going back and forth on whether or not I really like this explanation.  I enjoyed the execution of it and how it all played out, but it kind of felt too easy.  Very Un-LOST like.

I understand Desmond could withstand high levels of electromagnetic energy.  I don't understand why.  Maybe that's the reason people are special...just because they are.  When he went down into the glowing springs and removed that huge stone from the glowing pool, what supposedly happened? I get that it released this electromagnetic energy and I am guessing releasing evil into the world.  Well let's think of what it's called "The Heart of the island".  When the stone was removed, the island kept having earthquakes, it started breaking down.  Obviously this energy had to be kept within the island, and it was simply bleeding out and dying.  When Desmond removed the stone, Jack and Flocke were able to harm each other and ultimately kill each other.  Why is that again? I probably missed it in some previous episode.  Is it because at that point, the island is just an island (a dying island at that) and everyone can die (including Richard)?

I will admit, I did like how each person "realized" that they actually knew each other.  After each character discovered their "real" life, we all tried to figure out how the next character would realize theirs.  Let's be honest, this series has always been about Jack and his journey to redemption.  It was only fitting that he was the last one to realize what was really going.  And it took Locke, Kate, and finally his father's empty coffin to understand what was going on.  I knew when that scene came up, we would finally get answers on what the alternate timeline was.  So now I ask this.  It looks like the only way that one could move on or "let go" from this alternate timeline/purgatory was to realize and accept their own death.  Very "Sixth Sense" of you Damon and Carlton.  Once they let go, they can leave.  Very nice.

Choosing Hurley to protect the island sat much better with me than having Jack protect it.  That was a good moment when Jack told Hurley that he (Jack) believed in him (Hurley) especially since Hurley had just told Jack that several scenes prior.  Flocke said it best that Jack was the obvious choice, but in at least the time before Jack, Jacob did not really have a choice on being the protector.  Jack chose, and that just didn't seem right to me. Hugo didn't really have that choice either.  I gotta admit, I kinda felt bad for Ben, since he was overlooked AGAIN!  At least this time he had direct access to #1.  And come on writers, "You were a real good number two".  I know we're supposed to be adults, but weren't you ever in eighth grade?

I know I mentioned it earlier, but the last 10 minutes were great to me.  On the island, you see Jack who knows he is dying go back to where the whole show started, amongst the bamboo in the middle of the island.  In the alternate timeline, Jack finally realizing that he has died with some help from his father.  For a couple of minutes there, it seemed like he was going to die alone on the island in a very sad ending.  But then comes along Vincent who stays with him, he watches the plane pass over him containing the remaining survivors, and as he opened his eye to start this series, he closes to end it.  Nice...

Thank you LOST for opening the world's eyes to something new for the past six seasons.  I will admit, there are a lot of loose ends that apparently will never get tied up, but I guess that is what you do.  You keep us thinking, even after it's over.  But now it's time to close our eyes and enjoy what we have seen.

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