I've now had a week to contemplate the finale of Lost, so I guess it's time I weigh in on the conclusion and what it meant to the show overall. Like so many people, I'm left with mixed feelings about the finale. On one hand, I was completely moved by the events that unfolded. Seeing familiar faces and so many wonderful reunions was truly touching. Oddly enough, I think I was most moved by the final scene between Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and Ben (Michael Emerson). These two performers gave us one final great scene together and it was great to see Locke forgive him after all the two of them had been through together. The final revelation that the sideways world had been some sort of purgatory was poignant and fitting given everything that has gone down the past 6 seasons. I liked how the final scene of them sitting in the church as Christian opened the doors to reveal a big light was eerily reminiscent of them sitting in the plane as a big light shone behind them as the back of the plane was ripped apart. The whole thing was very emotional and left me drained by the time it was over.
Having said that, the nerd in me screams with rage that more answers to the show's mythology were never given. Now I'm not one of these people that needed to have answers to every piece of the show's minutae (I really don't care how or why there was a Dharma food drop years after their experiments were over). However, there were some critical things that were abandoned that I felt needed better resolution. Tops on that list was Charles Widmore and everything surrounding him. We never got a suitable answer as to why he was kicked off the island. We didn't discover why he so desperately wanted to get back. And I'm still unclear as to what exactly he wanted to use Desmond for. For too long in the series, it appeared that things were building to a Ben/Widmore showdown and instead that showdown turned into Jacob/the Man in Black. While that showdown had potential, I never felt it lived up to it. The characters were properly introduced too late in the game and it required us to buy into more science fiction than reality. Given the way the show ended, I wonder why they felt the need to have that element of science fiction or the unexplained. If life on the island was reality, why not root it completely in reality and have every mysterious thing explained with a logical answer.
As I look at my critique though, I find myself having an internal war with my man of faith and my man of science. I believe this is truly what the show wanted to accomplish. It's been clear that the show has always favored the man of faith and wanted its viewers to embrace that side of themselves as well. Those that can, probably really enjoyed the finale and those that can't are left feeling very frustrated. Whatever my issues are with how things wrapped up, I look forward to at some point in the near future rewatching the series from the start to see how much of it I can enjoy and appreciate from a new perspective. I also anticipate the final season's DVD set coming out sometime in August, which promises to fill in some gaps that couldn't be accomplished during the show's run. Also, if you end up getting the entire series box set, I read that there will be a 12-14 minute video featuring Hurley and Ben's time on the island running the show. That sounds can't miss. Since I already own all of the sets, I may not be able to get it, so I hope it eventually pops up on YouTube somewhere.
I know I have plenty of Lost fans that read this site, so please share with me your thoughts and opinions on the show. I'm very curious to see what everyone else thought. And to the creators of the show, I'd like to thank them for six very entertaining years of TV. I know there will be a definite void in my TV schedule next year without it around. And so as we bid Aloha to Lost, I say to all of you, Namaste!
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