Final thoughts on The End…
In the final episode of LOST, we learn that the flash sideways is really a sort of purgatory in which our Losties are waiting to be re-awakened, to be made aware of their previous life. Once they all awaken and realise what they had all lived through… they were able to move on.
So how does the Island really connect to all of this? We were told the Island was a place that kept evil at bay. Jacob’s job on the island was to protect the island and to subdue the evil that was created when his brother was killed — a job he passes on to Jack. This task suggests a cultural mandate that humanity has in taking care of the earth. Moreover, we also know that Jacob brought everyone to the island not just to take over his role, but to deal with their problems — they needed the island as much as the island needed them. Through their strivings and adventures on the island, each of our characters learns to deal with their problems and to embrace who they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to do.
Jack learns to have faith in his role as a leader and follower. Sawyer becomes a protector and leader. Juliet successfully delivers a child on the island and has a meaningful relationship that she thought she could never have. Sun and Jin’s marriage is strengthened by their time on the island, and their having a child reinforces this. Claire conquers her fear of becoming a mother and learns to be a part of a family. Charlie overcomes his addiction to heroine and becomes a hero to Claire and the others on the island. Boone learns to accept the love he has for his sister but more importantly to let it go. Shannon accepts that she does have worth and she finds it in helping others and in falling in love with someone she previously stereotyped as a terrorist. Sayid’s dynamic journey on the island leads him to discover that he is a good man as he sacrifices himself for everyone on the submarine. Hugo overcomes the bad luck that seems to plague him, and he makes his own luck by helping others, falling in love and driving the Dharma van. Ben finds redemption in learning to set aside his own personal and violent agendas and learns to help others instead of himself. Ben pays a heavy price for what he learned as the lesson cost him the life of his daughter.
The losties learned how to have faith in themselves and each other. This is most prevalent in Jack’s character, and this is why Jack ultimately becomes the Island’s new protector — Jack is the twenty-first century everyman. A man who was lost, but was found. A man whose cynicism infected his life like a cancer and whose transformation leaves him as a man fully committed to a life of faith and meaning. A man who sacrifices himself in order to protect the island and give his friends a fighting chance to successfully leave it.
So how does defeating Smokey have anything to do with their post-island lives — or post-lives for that matter? The light at the heart of the island is what gives the island its unique powers — but it also created evil in releasing the Smoke Monster. Jacob and the Man In Black are pitted against each other as a modern Cain and Abel. Jacob’s vengeful murder of the Man In Black and sending his body down into the cave results in the physical embodiment of evil. As soon as Desmond pulls the Stone from the ground inside that cave — or moves the final piece in a game that has been going on for a long time — the light goes out. So as the island begins to self-destruct, the Smoke Monster loses his powers. This is what makes Jack and Locke mortal — as well as Richard. Therefore, evil is defeated, and light is restored as Jack moves the final piece back into play. This is echoed in Juliet’s suggestion to Sawyer when she tells him to unplug the vending machine and plug it back in. She says it is a valid, legal move — it’s not against any rules. The light goes out, but as it is plugged back in the and light comes back on Sawyer not only gets his chocolate bar — he is also reunited with Juliet.
All of our characters, whether they make it off the island or not, die eventually. But, as soon as they come together in their post-lives, they are able to move on into the light.
The show’s importance has always rested on the characters and their individual journeys as well as their journey together on the island. What we can take away from this show is that as humans living in this world, we have a responsibility to guard the light and keep evil at bay. We must have faith — in each other and in ourselves. Death is inevitable, but what we do in life will connect us to our after-life.
It has been a great pleasure theorizing with all of you… this last reflection on LOST is nowhere near comprehensive, but it is enough for me right now. I leave this site satisfied with the show’s ending, and like our Losties.. I can now move on.
— Brokenankh42
Well put. The ending was bittersweet, but I came away not asking ‘yeah, but what happened then’ but instead ‘Why does it have to be over’. I’ve just cried it out of my system, pathetic I know, but now I too can let go and move on.
It was really cool being a part of this forum. It made me feel like I was part of the story. I’m gonna miss you guys almost as much as LOST. Greatest ending ever for greatest show ever. Feels like a perfect circle hole being filled with a perfect circle peg, but… now what do I do?
I don`t see it the same…
I think I just wanted more out of it. They tied it up so werid. Take 6 seasons to show it`s been about protecting a light, then just kind of throw out things like killing Smokey with a bullet to the back (come on, even to the face would have been so much cooler) and Desmond sort of flailing about, then Hurley and Ben as the new dynamic duo, and then Jack dies as Kate flies overhead…
I do like the fact that they all end up together (yay for Charlie, Claire and baby Aaron) but this season and the way they threw that out in the last minutes… I feel used.
Season 6 was just sort of all over the place. And now looking back, it was all sort of all over the place. I like the idea of the ending (people go on living their lives, eventually there is death and the bonds they made on the Island bring them together, to a place of peace and love) just not the execution.
Let’s be honest… it was a pretty lame and stupid ending.
None of the myths of the series got any closure, and that’s deceptive writing at it’s best. Six seasons later they just dump everything they’ve been creating into a trash bin and give us a Ghost reboot.
Ok, we got closure for the main characters and it was ok, but after watching the end if there is anything lost on LOST I would say are the screen writers.
– Dharma: not important let’s just forget it
– Widmore: not important let’s just kill him without much fuzz
– MIB: what should we do with this guy? We couldn’t even come up with a name for him already! Give him a stupid death because he’s just a secondary character and people won’t notice.
– Miles: Just forget him
– Lapidus: What should we do? What we did with miles? Oh yes! Let’s do the same with him.
– Temples: They were just a props, no need to create a story for them. Let’s just drop them without any reason and any explanation because it’s cool and people will love it.
– Aaron: Who is it? Ah that baby that made it look like if he was important. Nah, let’s just forget him, fans by this point won’t even remember him.
– Walt: Forget it, it’s been too long people won’t mind not knowing why he was important or had the ability to kill poor birds.
– Lost Experience: Nah! That’s not even related to this show just ignore it.
Yeah right!
Cheap screen writing. Thats what LOST is about. Creating plot knots is easy, giving them a reason and closure is just something that is above the capacity of the writers of the show.
LOST = Long Con with a loose cheesy Ghost like ending.
Great post. But I still hate being left with all the “why’s” and “what’s” of the island . Why did the Others do all the things they did? What was the “infection” that Sayid and Claire got? Why did Ben think he was talking to Jacob in the cabin all those years – and why didn’t Richard know it wasn’t Jacob? What’s with all the hieroglyphics? I could go on and on. They should have used this season to answer all the questions, and then could have still had a final episode showing them all going into the light. I feel totally cheated. This season makes the last five seasons pointless.
Agreed and I must say that I’m pretty mad for being cheated in such a way all these years.
It’s a shame FlashForward is being cancelled because at least in there I know we wouldn’t be so cheap cheated like in LOST after all.
From now on I will refrain from watching anything written by the LOST writers.
Locked: My view of your questions
– Dharma: not important let’s just forget it
(Not necessary to the circle – but, just wait for the movie!!!)
– Widmore: not important let’s just kill him without much fuzz
(Not important. Even Penny didn’t want him. He’ll probably end up a whisper)
– MIB: what should we do with this guy? We couldn’t even come up with a name for him already! (His name was Adam. To give you another takes away from the ‘Who is Adam and Eve’? everyone begged for and wrongly guessed as Rose/Bernard. Note they didn’t give Mother a name either. She’s Eve. That’s it.)
Give him a stupid death because he’s just a secondary character and people won’t notice.
(OK. I totally don’t get the whole MIB thing and why Eve just wouldn’t let him leave the island. It’s not like he was obsessed w/the light or Jacob couldn’t come and go as he pleased.)
– Miles: Just forget him
– Lapidus: What should we do? What we did with miles? Oh yes! Let’s do the same with him.
(They had a different time in their futures where they were more fulfilled and happy. That’s where they’ll spend their eternity. Just be glad the best times of their lives weren’t on Craphole Island.)
– Temples: They were just a props, no need to create a story for them. Let’s just drop them without any reason and any explanation because it’s cool and people will love it.
(Temples make sense. Wonder about those glyphs by the light and who lived in the Dharma summoning house … )
– Aaron: Who is it? Ah that baby that made it look like if he was important. Nah, let’s just forget him, fans by this point won’t even remember him.
(Sadly, Claire musta’ still been crazy when she got off the island ‘cuz he was ‘happiest’ as that baby.)
– Walt: Forget it, it’s been too long people won’t mind not knowing why he was important or had the ability to kill poor birds.
(Walt got too big so Desmond had to do that what was likely planned for him.)
– Lost Experience: Nah! That’s not even related to this show just ignore it.
(OK. I really miss how they stopped making those fun side websites.)
I enjoyed theorizing all these years. Now I know it wasn’t ever necessary. We were given no answers because there are no answers. Doesn’t feel all that good.
man i am fired up about this ending…. didnt they say time and time again it wasnt purgatory????? not to mention christian shepard says they are all dead something like some past and some present and sme future…. what a crock these writers started this flash sideways and had no other way to end it but purgatory not to mention kate , ben , jack, des, sun, jin, sawyer and so on were not even dead in real times during most the sideways. they tried to come up with something witty in the begining of the seson and got stuck and could not exsplain it. bs if u asked me. i do not need all answers to stuff but we got ripped off . as a loyal fan to this show for so many years and being told time after time by the writers it was not purgatory i feel violated… lol totally cast a shadow over what i thought to be the greatest show ever, which now i do not think it is cause it is all bullshit all the stufff we have talked about for years was bullshit. a long con is exactly what it was. crap
Oh, Chief – it WAS necessary. Maybe not as necessary as breathing, but it was entertaining and fun and you certainly contributed a lot … made the party fun.
I completely agree with Locked. I am totally and shockenly disappointed.
The End sucked royally. There is no excuse whatsoever for this. Period.
i agree with locked entirely, its easy to make a good story but its hard to give it closure worthy of its legacy. something lost did not
IN response to number 7. MIB was called Samuel
The thing that has annoyed me, and I did think that “the End” had some real nice points and good character development. I agree with everyone that some answers would’ve been nice. My main gripe despite the lack of any real comprehension of logic, was that the huge end of show reveal was not even relevant til season 6. If we were told this at the end of season 5 it would ve been non sensical. The questions still remain. I don’t want a million answers, I like the idea of having an open ending but with some ideas of focus.
The standard answer is gonna be “its because of the light”
Poor if thats the case. I hear the writers are not going to discuss it once the finale has aired. I got up at 4.30am to watch it, imagine how Im feeling right now.
Personally i did enjoy The End. Plenty happened in it and it was indeed very emotional. It was a good ending to the story.
I can’t understand why everyone is so mad at there being a lack of answers in the finale, that’s not what it was about; the finale was just to finish the story off.
HOWEVER, the answers to many of the questions should have come during the earlier parts of season 6 as there was plenty of time to squeeze them in – that’s what you guys and me should be mad at, not the finale.
To GK21: “MIB was called Samuel”? I don’t remember that. What episode was his name given?
I_Am_Jacob, of course we are not angry at a particular episode but at the writers for not even trying to provide explanations to the big questions.
To Krystyne 20. The call sheet for all MIBs stuff says Jacob and Samuel. Apparently the network decided he was better off without a name. I genuinely believe they were too scared to delve into religon given how sacred it is to many and as a result the mythology was a bit half baked. I am not upset with the finale as such more the final product. The show as a whole to me now has a lot of gaps and if you look back at many episodes you will see the needless padding. The entire show could ahve been covered with all the character development in 3 seasons I believe. this would have prevented ridiculous emblishment on a story which the writers themselves could not explain. If someone asked what lost was about could you tell them? Would it entice them? IS it a bout a plane crash – no? Is it about relationships – yeah. Does that sound like anything new? no. Is it about good v evil -yes. But then thats the big spoiler isnt it. Sorry i have just had a rant after just wanting to answer Krystyne 20 question.
Sorry.
Still thought the ending was okay.
brokenankh42, thanks for your positive take on the finale. Your interpretation is quite accurate!
This was all about the characters and their path to ‘enlightenment’. An opportunity for them to change their ‘karma’ before moving on to the next leg of the ‘souls journey’.
Thoroughly enjoyable read!
Well done!
Souls journey… Yes, it was a lovely ending, seeing the Losties all together again. The acting, the filming style, Charlie and Claire- all very emotional. There was redemption, love and peace. And I believed it was going to be a great ending, but then the last 10 minutes happened.
Seriously, if I wanted to know what happens after you die, I would go talk to a priest. Or kill myself.
Lost used to be so badass. And it ended all sugary sweet and wiped out the meaning of the last 5 seasons.
Why bring this limbo/purgatory deal in during the last season? If that is really what they wanted, they could have found a better way to work it in. Like say, one that didn’t make every single other episode completely pointless.
I think my analogy is that it came full circle, but it was a cirlce made out of dots.
The end was nice, very sweet. And the last 4 minutes were beautiful. My problem is: they could have had that moving ending AND resolved some of the mysteries and questions, while keeping seasons 1-5 relevant.
I don’t think that was too much to hope for and expect.
I like this post because it echoes a lot of my initial reaction after the episode, and because IMHO the ending is all about a global perspective of LOST and life in general. In the END, the characters themselves aren’t asking where the polar bear came from, or why the water in the temple had healing powers, etc. They are just happy to be together. I LOVED the raw emotion of it all and that is really why I have loved Lost. The mysteries were great, and kept me on my toes, but it was the emotion and the character development that I was addicted to. And in the end of my own life, I don’t think I will be asking about the minuscule events that maybe seem like such a big deal right now. I think I will be happy to have those I love surrounding me.
I am happy that the questions were not all answered, because as much as it killed me not to know details, and it drove my association with online forums to discuss them, I have ENJOYED thinking these elements of the show through and digging around. And the ending left it open for us to interpret what happened. I love that I still have to rethink the episode a couple of times to put it all together. I’m sure as I go back and rewatch that I will make more connections and be so happy that the writers did have a plan the whole time.
I’m a Lostie all the way, even after and especially after the finale.
totally agree drmrwizard. As I just said on another post, the marketing strategy of the show was to tell us answers were coming. Why tell us?? To keep us watching. The writers have developed a fantastic show with tremendous ideas but the fact some of the answers are not given makes a bit of a mockery of it tbh. I can imagine the meetings.
“we spent 3 seasons saying you can’t get off the island what we gonna do?”
“what about a wheel that turns the island through time and transports the person to Tunisia???”
“cool- how would that work??”
“the light does it??”
“pardon me??”
“the light… You know??”
but how??”
“does it matter??”
clearly not. As did much of the mythology. It was simply used as a gimmick to keep us entertained, lead us astray, whatever. The entire series couldve been wrapped up without many of the macguffins and the series wouldn’t have been as successful. This is why we wanted answers, so we weren’t negating the excellence of sites like this. Just one long con
It was a strange ending…I waited till today holding off from this website and other media.
I enjoyed the end for several reasons – the religous tones, the idea they were all dead, purgatory, all the characters being together etc. But that was obvious no? Plane crashes. U wake up on a “paradise lost” island. Anything is possible. Sounds like their dead. And people guessed it from the beginning.
All that was missing was Bruce Willis as a child psychiatrist 😉
The only problems are related to what the unhappy people are pointing out: time travel…donkey wheel = tunisia, and existing in another world etc etc… and things that dont seem to mesh.
Most of the elements mesh quite clearly. But some things dont, and thats annoying.
It works on most levels if you consider they are dead and can move wherever the island moves. But that makes all their actions inconsequential outside of the island if they are dead no???
Anyway im asking an open ended question.
it was good, but I believe these writers should be Q and A’d intensely!!
I enjoyed it, but 6 years commitment requires a bit more arguably.
However you can read poems such as The Wasteland by TS Eliot and still find differing interpretations.
Thats art. And some people can hate a painting while another loves it.
“I’m sure as I go back and rewatch that I will make more connections and be so happy that the writers did have a plan the whole time.”
So I am totally taking that back. I go back and forth from loving the finale to hating it, and in the end, I am frustrated that things weren’t answered even though the characters were absolutely intriguing. It isn’t enough and y’all are right – I am left wanting. It was so fun to see a new mystery on Lost, and then go find out what we could about it and make our own theories. The point of making a theory is to test it and find out if it is correct – we all have these theories with no resolution, and that is completely unsatisfying.
Is that the point? Did the writers intend to divide the individual and general audience in such a way? Frustration at the lack of scientific resolution and yet emotional heart strings humming from the dramatic reunions.
Agh, Lost, you fickle bitch.