Speechless is a perfect way to describe me right now,courtesy of tonight’s LOST finale. After spending six maddening seasons with a slew of characters I had cared for its difficult to wrap up my feelings of having to say goodbye. As a fan of the show from the beginning,I have avoided blogging or recapping it,as it’s had a way to get away from me and I didn’t want to expressly over analyze it. Its a program,which I easily fell in love with,that I could never fully grasp. At times I just had to throw my hands up in the air and just have faith that it would all work itself out. This season,the final one,had me filled with worry that the “questions”would remain unanswered. And coming into tonight’s finale I wasn’t positive if I would ever get the answer I wanted from LOST.
And apparently I didn’t get it,not initially. I looked so deep into these characters,many that I shed more than a handful of tears over,and there story lines that I felt I deserve to have it all resolved. I almost felt that I would be happier if it was a morbid ending as long as there was some obvious closure. But the last fifteen minutes had me confused,as I really forgot about the big picture of this show all along. Yes,it was the mystery of the island and what it held for Jack,Kate,Sawyer,Locke,Ben,Juliet,Michael,Claire,the Kwons,Hurley,Desmond,Charlie,Ana Lucia,Walt,Widmore and Christian. But at its heart,LOST was always about more than just the mysteries. It went above and beyond the why and it was more about the who. At its heart,it was about people and the relationships,bonds,one fosters in their life. And much like the survivor’s bonds,us the viewers had forged a bond over the years. In the final moments of the show,we watch as Jack,surrounded by those who meant the most to him during his time “living life”,has seemingly been “found.”The last bit of dialog is powerful if only for its simplicity. When Jack is confronted with an empty casket and a shot of his island life,he experienced what we had yet to see –an island WITHOUT the MIB,Smoke Monster and a protected light. While it seemed that the rest of the “survivors”of Oceanic Flight 815 had an easier time reconciling and reconnecting with their ‘former’lives,Jack was brought up to speed easily when talking with his father,Christian. Jack,similar to me and concerned with specifics,attempts to understand what we have been trying to do as well for the past six seasons.
CHRISTIAN:Well there is no now,here.
JACK:Where are we,Dad?
CHRISTIAN:This is a place that you all made together,so that you all could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone,Jack. You needed all of them,and they needed you.
JACK:For what?
CHRISTIAN:To remember,and let go.
JACK:Kate –she said we were leaving.
CHRISTIAN: Not leaving,no –moving on.
JACK:Where are we goin’?
CHRISTIAN:Let’s go find out.
When we watched Jack,most surely,breath his last breath,joined by the always trusty Vincent (who had a thing for “being there”for the newly dead) and view the plane overhead,we knew it was an end. It might not be the one I expected,it was well-crafted explanation that in the end –there is no definitive answers.
As an adult,LOST has been a vehicle for conversations with folks I never would have had a connection with. It allowed me to wonder about the effects of science and faith on our lives. And it made me empathize and hate characters all during one hour. Even after the last few moments of LOST,I was still attempting to fully grasp what was going on. And honestly,no ending would have been 100% perfect in my eyes –as I wasn’t really read for the adventure to end. But to spend the last few moments with a character,Mr. Jack Shepard,whom I watch evolve over the years,was a nice good bye. The writers of LOST are to be applauded for giving us folks with a bizarre craving for knowledge and mystery a reason to tune in each week. A show that was steeped in the popular culture was such a salute to the popular culture. Whether its clever tie ins to theories and plots from beloved books,tales and films or quip dialog while people are getting chased by mercenaries,polar bears and a motherfucking smoke monster,LOST never forgot its single function –to engage and entertain. If you walk away from tonight’s episode not completely enthralled in how enraptured we all are,than I feel bad for you. JJ Abrams,Damon Lindelof,Carlton Cuse and actually ABC –thank you for inviting us all along on the ride. Even though it just ended,I have no problem tuning into the pilot and started again from the very beginning. Because in true LOST fashion,who knows how it will turn out this time? So let’s all try and figure out where we are going next.
Tomorrow,I will have a wrap up of LOST coverage,including the hilarious goodbye show courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel,and we’ll get to discuss the island for just a little bit longer. 4 8 15 16 23 42 and Namaste.
