Those words spoken by the great Jacob were so very true all throughout this revolutionary television show during its 6-year run. Before I start my last ever LOST blog, here is a breakdown of how my own series finale blog is going to go down...
- Episode Build up
- Episode Recap: On the island
- Episode Recap: Flash-Sideways
- My analysis of the episode and entire series
- Some writing on all my friends who were with me on this journey the past 6 years
- Final Thoughts
Episode Build Up:
I enjoyed watching the 2-hr pre-show because I enjoy watching the cast talk to the camera "out of character." Seeing all of them appear on all the late-shows talking about the fina
le was also very entertaining enough though they couldnt tell us anything, except for Hurley who told us on Lopez Tonight that he was hoisting people over a waterfall at 430 in the morning. I hope the
producers didnt care that he said that because it actually happened. I also enjoyed watching the pilot episode the night before, and knew that the finale would have a lot of tie-ins with the pilot. So Sunday Night I sat down, watched the pre-show and then realized that the time had arrived... 9pm on Sunday May 23rd had finally arrived and we were all about to be taken on a 150 minute series finale roller coaster. Here we go...
Episode Recap: On the island
The episode kicked off with good old Christian Shepard being delivered to a church, right off the bat I knew he was going to figure heavily into the end of the episode. Next we have two groups of people heading for the heart of the island... one to destroy it(Locke/MIB and Ben), one to protect it (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley). Meanwhile we have a third group of people who are heading out to the Ajira plane(Richard, Miles, and a still alive Lapidus). I love how Lapidus stayed alive no matter what because he was the only one who could fly a plane.
Anyway, Jack and Locke/MIB meet up and threaten each other for a while and eventually team up to help Desmond go down to the bottom of the cave of light. With each trying to prove the other wrong Desmond pulls the cork out of the heart of the island and the light goes out. Thanks to all of those years of pressing the button in the hatch, Desmond is the only one who can do this because he is nearly immune to the electromagnetism at the bottom of the cave. So the cork gets pulled and it looked like hell was going to shoot up through the island. The island starts to crumble and sink little by little just like Locke/MIB thought it would do. However, what Locke/MIB didnt plan on was the side effect of him now being mortal again and able to be killed.
Locke/MIB
and Jack eventually have their long-awaited battle and Jack ends up getting mortally wounded by Locke/MIB's dagger. Kate saves Jack's life and shoots Locke/MIB in the back and Jack kicks him off the cliff. The enemy had finally been defeated, but at a very serious cost for Jack. Jack tells Kate and Sawyer that they must find the Ajira Plane and leave the island for good. Kate and Jack share a heartfelt moment knowing that it will be the last time they ever see each other. Jack tells Kate that he loves her then tells her to find Claire and leave the island.After everything that has happened to Jack, he is now ready to die in order to save the island. So Jack goes back to the cave and realizing that this could be it for him, he tells Hurley that he has to be the one who protects the island now. Hurley is reluctant at first but eventually accepts the job as the new Jacob. With Hurley still unsure about how to run the island, he asks Ben if he wants to be Hurley's "number 2." Ben gladly accepts and tells Hurley that he can make all new rules for the island now that he is in charge. Obviously Jacob had rules that no babies could be born on the island and people could not come and go as they wish to the island.
Jack gets down to the bottom of the cave and finds Desmond and tells him that he fulfilled his destiny and now needs to leave the island and go back to his family on the mainland. Jack then puts the cork back into the heart of the island and restores the pool of water and the light.
Kate, Sawyer, and Claire meet up on the Ajira plane with Lapidus, Richard, and Ben. After a lot of drama the plane successfully gets off the ground and the six of them head home.
After restoring the island and stopping it from sinking, Jack stumbles back to the spot where he
originally woke up in the first episode after Oceanic Flight 815's crash. Severely injured by the Man in Black, Jack falls to the ground in the bamboo fields and is joined by Vincent the Dog who also encountered Jack in the pilot episode in the same spot. Jack looks up to the sky with Vincent laying next him and sees his friends leaving the island on the Ajira plane, forcing him to crack one last smile. Jack opened his eyes in the first episode to start our journey, and he closed his eyes in the final episode to end our journey.
Episode Recap: Flash-Sideways
In the beginning of the flash-sideways Desmond continues his role as God in reuniting all the Losties. One by one all of the Losties begin to recognize one another due to encounters with people or objects that were important to them during their time on the island.
Eventually most of them are drawn to the church that was to be the site of Jack's father's funeral. Locke regains the use of his legs after being successfully operated on by Jack. He then meets Ben outside the church where Locke forgives him for murdering him. Ben then meets Hurley, who says everyone is inside, motioning him to join them, but Ben elects to stay outside. I think Ben never felt that he made a real connection with that group and could presumably be waiting for his daughter Alex to join him. As Hurley heads back inside, he says to Ben that he was a "...real good number two...", to which Ben replies back that Hurley was a "...great number one". Kate arrives with Jack and instructs him to enter through the back of the church, where he comes upon his father's coffin. The coffin acts as the catalyst for Jack's memories after earlier contact with Locke and Kate met with resistance on his part to believe his visions.
Jack was the last one to realize these memories, because he was always the stubborn one in real life who had trouble letting go of things and moving on. Jack then discovers the coffin to be empty, and his Dad appears behind him. Jack then realizes that he had died, and is emotionally embraced by his father, who reassures him that the people Jack has met and the events leading up until now not only happened, but the time he spent with the people on the island was "the most important period" of his life. Christian then states time has no meaning in this place and that they "made" this place to "find each other", independent of the time at which they died, so they could "move on to the next phase" together. All of the Losties died at different points in life, but none of them could move on until they did it together. Jack and Christian go out into the church to meet the others. All our original Losties are out there except for the ones who have badly sinned in their lives. We found out a few episodes back from Michael that they are stuck on the island as whisperer's.
Here is a list of all the couples who were together in the church....
Jack and Kate
Sawyer and Juliet
Desmond and Penny
Charlie and Claire
Sayid and Shannon
Hurley and Libby
Sun and Jin
Rose and Bernard
John Locke realized where he was once he began to walk again and the man of faith was in his rightful place. Boone was also alone but took satisfaction in helping his sister, Shannon, find Sayid.
All the reunions take place and everyone exchanges hugs and kisses. They then all sit down and watch Christian walk down the aisle to open up the doors to the church to let the bright light in. The characters were all united again and finally able to move on to the next phase. The church scene and the Jack dying scene took place simultaneously on the show and our final image of the entire series was Dr. Jack Shepard closing his eyes and closing the book on one of the greatest TV series of all-time.
My Analysis of the Finale and Entire Series:
Though we wont be shown any more of their adventure, the adventure isn't over. Its up to our imagination to fill in whatever form their story takes from now on. Every single question in the series was not answered, but I think that was for the best. There will forever be debate over this series and the legacy of this show will never be forgotten.
The heart and soul of LOST from Day 1 has been 'character development.' Ever since the third episode we have been shown flashbacks, flash-forwards, etc. of all of our characters and the biggest reason for LOST's success has been the audience being able to identify with each character on the show. Their lives became our lives.
The other main element to this series was redemption. As Jacob told us, all the Losties were chosen because they were flawed and looking for a better place. They all got a 2nd chance in life and they all successfully redeemed themselves on the island in one way or another. This redemption led to the happy ending that they all deserved.
Right after the finale was over there seemed to have been a lot of confusion over when exactly the Losties died. A lot of people were saying they died in the original 815 plane crash and were very upset because they were told the island was real and not purgatory. However, this is not the case. Everything that happened to our characters was very real and Christian even told us that when he said, "Jack everything that happened to you was very real." The flash-sideways turned out to be a place that all of our Losties created for themselves in order to wait for each other after they had died. They all had to find each other and realize that they were dead before they could move on together. Christian Shepard also tells Jack that some people died before him and some died after him. We saw the deaths of Shannon, Sun, Jin, Charlie, Jack, etc. on the island... and are left to assume that the rest eventually died of old age or something else. Hurley and Ben also tell each other that they were good number 1 and number 2's, so obviously all the island stuff was very real and happened to all of them. All these characters were together during their most important and happiest times of their lives. As i said, Ben never made a true connection with the Losties so he was present at the church but never went in. Eloise and Faraday were not the happiest on the island for obvious reasons so they werent there. Richard was happier when he was with his wife Isabella. And Miles, Lapidus, and Charlotte spent only minor time on the island. The entire point of the flash-sideways was that it acted as limbo and showed us the characters journey to find each other and move on to a better place... together.
Before I get to shouting out to all my LOST friends, I just wanna throw out props to all the cast, crews, directors, producers, and writers of this show. The acting during all 6 seasons was fantastic, and to think that all of these actors and actresses were plucked out of nowhere before this show. Very few of these characters were ever heard from before LOST, and now they will probably forever be most famous for being a cast member of LOST. Congrats to all of you on a spectacular six year run.
To All My Friends Who Were With Me on This Journey During the Last 6 Years...
Some of you have been there since episode one, some of you picked up the show along the way, and some of you were recruited by me after I transferred to Ohio University. No matter how we started watching LOST you all were there with me every week for the past 6 years. You all have watched episodes with me, read my thoughts on my blog, and talked with me about all the mysterious. These past few months I have received a record number of readers on my blog and I thank all of you for all of your support for me and this great show. While it was obviously impossible to watch every single episode together, we always made time to watch each season's finale together....
Season 1 Finale- watched with everyone in Mike Gett's basement
Season 2 Finale- watched with everyone in my basement
Season 3 Finale- watched with my OU friends at Sara Normand's apartment
Season 4 Finale- watched at Sara Normand/Michelle Munoz house (along w/the entire season)
Season 5 Finale- watched in my basement with everyone
Season 6 Finale- watched w/entire family while keeping tabs w/everyone
Now its time to recognize all of my friends who have been with me during this journey. If I forgot anyone I am truly sorry and apologize.
(listed alphabetically by last name to avoid favoritism)
Skye Agnew- Even though we practically live in the same city, I never knew Skye until I went to OU. We started watching episodes together during Season 4 and she was there for pretty much every episode.
Matt Barnes- Never watched any episodes with Barnes, mainly because he was always so busy doing important stuff. But I always enjoyed hearing his opinions on each episode.
Luke Florence- Luke and I have more in common then just our love of LOST- We both write fantastic LOST related blogs. Before Season 6 started Luke put up a preview blog of LOST with everyone's thoughts and expectations for the upcoming season. It was tremendous. Luke was always solid in his opinions and for that im going to give his blog some publicity right now. Check him out at argumentking.blogspot.com
Mike Gett- watched 1 of the finale's in his basement, and discussed a lot of the early episodes with him until he went off the college at Miami. We have recently been talking heavily about the end of Season 6 and im sure he feels the same way as I do about how well the finale played out.
Mike Hallock- watched several finale's with Hallock and was usually annoyed by him talking during the show, but then again what doesnt annoy me when it comes to Hallock? All kidding aside, you could always find a LOST facebook status on Hallock's page during every episode. He was there every step of the way.
Kevin Hunt- one of Luke's best friends, Kevin showed up each week with Luke to watch LOST with us during my time at OU. The word LOUDNESS was really born out of Kevin's appreciation for the word at that moment. I couldnt hear the TV so I screamed LOUDNESS to get it turned up. Kevin laughed hysterically and really elevated my word into LOST fame. Some of you told me you still scream LOUDNESS before every episode even though im not there. Awesome.
Michelle Munoz- one of my favorite people ever to watch LOST with. I became friends with Michelle over this show and watched every episode I could with her. Her theories and interpretations of each episode was remarkable and I relied on her a lot when forming theories of my own.
Sara Normand- what can I really say about Sara? My best friend down at OU and one of the most genuine LOST fans Ive ever known. She didnt start watching the show until she met me, but I convinced her to get caught up immediately. She wasted little time and instantly started a LOST marathon and got caught up in record time. Ill never forget the night she said to me, "I cant believe you guys had to wait a week to watch each episode and over 7 months to watch the next season." She became a regular watcher of the show during Season 4 and we havent missed watching or discussing an episode together since then.
Jim Pasquine- the hardass of our LOST group. Like most of my friends at home we watched a lot of the early episodes together but then James went off to college and we kept in touch about the show for the rest of the time. I recently ran into James and talked to him about the finale while he was hulling mulch for some guy. See what I mean about hardass?
Don Somers- if there is one person out there whos dedication to this show matches mine, its Don. Don liked to focus on the emotional parts of LOST and all the relationships that went on. His favorite character was Charlie Pace and I remember talking to him the night after Charlie was killed off in the Season 3 finale. Now he is very fond of Desmond.
Ryan Wetzel- another one of the guys from home who I watched a lot of early episodes with then could only discuss episodes with once he went off to college in Akron. A few days ago we discussed what might happen in the series finale but Wetzel informed me he was a few episodes behind. Hopefully this kid got caught up cause id like to hear his opinion on the finale.
Adele Wright- ill never forget coming into 1st period band during our Senior year of High School the morning after a LOST episode and hearing Adele tell me how much she hated LOST. Thats pretty much the feeling everyone had with this show... they hated it so much, and they loved it so much at the same time. Adele and I spent hours talking about every episode that we could and its something we will always share.
Thank you too all of my friends for coming on this amazing journey with me the past 6 years and hopefully these write-ups helped you all remember all the times we spent together with this show as a big part of our lives.
Final Thoughts:
Never has anything impacted me in my life as much as this show did for the past 6 years. Executive Producer Damon Lindelof tweeted his last ever LOST related tweet immediately after the finale had aired.....
"Remember. Let Go. Move on. I will miss it more than I can ever say."
So much meaning and emotion behind those words, and that phrase sums up the message they were telling us in the show and the message he is telling us in real life. Thank you Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for a fantastic job producing LOST.
As I write my last ever comments on LOST its really starting to hit me now that this is it. Its all over. Ill never blog about this show again. Ill never watch another new episode. Ill never wake up in the morning and wonder whats going to happen next. Its extremely depressing, but hopefully the discussion and debate will continue forever.
*Thank you to everyone who has been associated with me and this show over the past 6 years, and I hope you have all treasured the memories like I have....
R.I.P. - LOST
(September 22, 2004 - May 23, 2010)
(121 episodes)
Until next time,
BASIC KNOWLEDGE, LOUDNESS, and THANK YOU ALL.... (eye closes)
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