I tell myself over and over I must not even think about that scene with Vincent and Jack and then, duh, I do and it’s like watching the end of every “loyal animal” Disney movie ever made and I get all choked up. I’m being played like a fiddle and the show’s been over for twelve hours now. This right here? This is why I don’t like getting sucked into TV shows. And why I’m glad that Glee, the only other show I watch with regularity, will probably end with what, graduation? Afterlife not included.
This is the point at which some people will cry, Spoiler! and I will say, puh-lease. I’ve said nothing. And don’t worry, neither did the final episode. Because it turns out that LOST, like life (oooh, spooky), doesn’t actually end with concrete answers to the question, “What does it all mean?” just lots of mixed up emotions and dying and stuff.
God, I need a hug. And a cupcake.
I know exactly how you feel.
T’was nothing special about it.
Sending “hugs” your way…. and one extra large chocolate cupcake.
I cried. I will miss this show and the characters and the pure nerdy-ness of it all. I am not satisfied but I am not disappointed. I don’t know what that emotion is.
Looking forward to the DVD where things will be explained a little more.
I came away from this episode liking everyone much more than I ever did. Even those that annoyed me. Kind of like high school graduation. You have more affection for people you know you will never see again just for that fact.
Lost will be missed. And I am a total dork for being one whose life it will leave a hole in.
I felt the exact same way. My husband and I went back and forth over whether they all actually died in the initial plane crash and the WHOLE FRIGGEN THING never really happened (you know, “really”), or just the sideways alternate reality storyline was “fake”.
I checked on a Q&A with the writers/producers, and according to them, all of the initial happenings on the island were “real”, as in Jack and all those characters were actually alive during that time. I felt much better after reading that.
At first I was kind of peeved, because… if the island is limbo or purgatory or something, who the hell are the dharma people, and how are people getting here by submarine, and what does that all have to do with Jack’s personal journey??? But I guess the plane crash actually happened and they survived it and the only “it was all in his mind/limbo/purgatory” bit was the flash sideways timeline. I don’t know why, but I feel much better about that.
Also, when Vincent cuddled right up next to Jack, I grabbed my puppy, smooshed his little face and sobbed my eyes out, so… these are not exactly the musings of a well adjusted person.
I started crying at the point when Kate asked Jack on the cliffs if she’d ever see him again and didn’t stop until the end. Even today I feel kind of weepy – it wasn’t a “happy” ending and I really think that’s what I was looking forward to.
I pretty much cried off and on through the whole show, but the Vincent/Jack scene totally threw me over the edge. Charlie/Claire and Sawyer/Juliet were the other flashbacks that really got me.
I have about 60 questions I’d like answers to… And like you, I can’t indulge them or I’ll lose hours. I couldn’t get to sleep last night because I was so caught up in trying to figure it all out.
Oooh I want a cupcake too!
I was peeved last night and told my son ‘it’s like Bobby in the shower!’ (Ya, he didn’t know what I was talking about)
But I slept on it…and I did some of the internet searching…and I loved it. Complete 180, I know, but I get it now. I get it. It was deep, that’s for sure, and very spritual. Awesome.
I will miss this show so damn much.. I cried throughout it, but at the same time, I was SO disappointed with this Lost Finale.
They didn’t answer ANYTHING
I really do feel that they did a cop-out ending.. I always felt that the writers didn’t know where they were going with the story..
I’m a little late, but if you haven’t already you should read Tracie’s recap at Jezebel: http://jezebel.com/5546559/lost-finale-recap-case-closed?skyline=true&s=i
She does a great job of summing it up and I think points us in the direction of quite a few answers.
And here’s what I find baffling: why are people so upset that the answers weren’t spelled out for us in big block letters?
LOST was a show that almost since the first episode has engaged its audience not just with the characters and the mysteries of the island but also with one another. Half the fun has been pondering what it all means – discussing, debating and researching even the tiniest details. How could ANYONE have expected that this final episode would wrap it all up neatly? Man, that would have been no fun at all.
Also? I’m still crying about that last scene with Vincent. And yes, it was totally manipulative but – boy howdy – it worked.
Three days later and I am still thinking about it! And I still feel totally emotionally drained over it! But isn’t that the sign of good TV – a show that makes you feel so much? I didn’t get the answers to all of the crazy island mysteries, but the more I think about it, the more I don’t care about them. The story has always been about the characters and being able to watch their journeys come full circle was beautiful!
And now I don’t have to constantly choose which one to watch live – Glee or Lost!
Sarah C.. It’s just me and many people I know feel that “the island” was a character as well.. would loved to have had some things brought to light.. what was the point of everything if it didn’t even matter in the end? I guess that was what we found annoying.. would have been cool to be able to go back through the series and say ‘Oh, that’s what that meant!”
OMG – i haven’t watched the show since the end of season 2 and I was bawling half the time. (Something I noticed about myself….when I get teary I tend to glare at the TV because it is ALL.ITS.FAULT) Anyhoo. For some reason it just really got to me and I too was thinking about it, long after it was over. Sigh. Now I all tempted to go out and buy the DVD set.
I was just sent this explaination, hope it helps.
Found on lostmediamentions this is some guy from Bad Robot (the company that produced Lost) amazing post:
Good stuff on here! I can finally throw in my two cents! I’ve had to bite my tongue for far too long. Also, hopefully I can answer some of John’s questions about Dharma and the “pointless breadcrumbs” that really, weren’t so pointless …
First …
The Island:
It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people’s heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a “Protector”. Jacob wasn’t the first, Hurley won’t be the last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him — even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.
Thus began Jacob’s plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn’t do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet everytime he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn’t take a more active role, then his plan would never work.
Enter Dharma — which I’m not sure why John is having such a hard time grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interferred by “corrupting” Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben’s “off-island” activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the “Others” killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that’s what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn’t do for himself.
Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB’s corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Canditates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Canidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That’s a question that is purposley not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself. Still … Dharma’s purpose is not “pointless” or even vague. Hell, it’s pretty blantent.
Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his “candidates” (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of “candidates” through the decades and letting them “choose” which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn’t. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector — I know that’s how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won’t answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.
In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he’d always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we’ll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on …
Now…
Sideways World:
Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and metaphysical discussion (for me at least — because I love history/religion theories and loved all the talks in the writer’s room about it). Basically what the show is proposing is that we’re all linked to certain people during our lives. Call them soulmates (though it’s not exactly the best word). But these people we’re linked to are with us duing “the most important moments of our lives” as Christian said. These are the people we move through the universe with from lifetime to lifetime. It’s loosely based in Hinduisim with large doses of western religion thrown into the mix.
The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this “sideways” world where they exist in purgatory until they are “awakened” and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show’s concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own “Sideways” purgatory with their “soulmates” throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That’s a beautiful notion. Even if you aren’t religious or even spirtual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving.
It’s a really cool and spirtual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events — not JUST because of Jacob. But because that’s what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith — and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.
How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer. Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that’s THE answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept revealing more, and more of a larger mosiac.
But the writer’s took it even further this season by contrasting this Sideways “purgatory” with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB. He wasn’t allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They made it into Sideways world when they died — some before Jack, some years later. In Hurley’s case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways world until they are “awakened” and they can only move on TOGETHER because they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was their destiny.
They were NOT linked to Anna Lucia, Daniel, Roussou, Alex, Miles, Lupidis, (and all the rest who weren’t in the chuch — basically everyone who wasn’t in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again, here’s where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It’s possible that those links aren’t people from the island but from their other life (Anna’s parnter, the guy she shot — Roussou’s husband, etc etc).
A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn’t go into the Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you the answer to that very question. Ben can’t move on yet because he hasn’t connected with the people he needs to. It’s going to be his job to awaken Roussou, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest. He has to attone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley’s number two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte, Whidmore, Hawkins etc. It’s really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.
But, from a more “behind the scenes” note: the reason Ben’s not in the church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never changed it. The writers always said (and many didn’t believe them) that they knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It’s pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily changed their ending and put him in the church — but instead they problem solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church … and then that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder — the original ending started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack closing his eyes as the other plane flies away. That was always JJ’s ending. And they kept it.
For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done before. I’ve been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I’ve loved (X-Files, 24, Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who slaved on the show for 6 years.
In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the afterlife, and all these big, spirtual questions that most shows don’t touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story — even with all the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding.
Lost Junkie, thanks for sharing that.. I have seen other explanations from other sites as well.. It still didn’t do it for me or others I know (we had already read this)
Doesn’t work for me either. Juliet was in the church but not in the first season. So they changed that. I’m glad they did, I would have been mad as hell if her & Sawyer didn’t end up together. Also Desmond & Penny weren’t in season 1. Rousseau WAS in the first season.
Maybe the writers knew the importance Desmond would play always. Same with Juliet. But saying someone wasn’t in the church because they weren’t in the first season doesn’t work for me.
I feel as though you were wandering around in my head when you wrote this post. Exactly (no, really, exactly) what I felt the next day. Bravo to you! And your little niece is adorable – congratulations!