The End of Lost

Last night was one of those rare occasions--a good old-fashioned series finale that engenders group TV watching. Of course, for those who have never seen Lost, this will all seem meaningless, and for those who do watch it but haven't seen the finale yet, look away, because this post will be rife with spoilers.

I've been a devoted viewer of the show since the very beginning, and have delighted in its audacious originality. It is the only TV drama I watch regularly--all the others seem to be some variations of cops, forensics, lawyers or doctors. Lost was something completely different--a puzzle, as well as a long arc for a diverse group of characters, united only in that they are survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island. What the island is, and why they were brought there, pushed the plot forward through six seasons, and as the show wound down many questions were answered (but not all). In the end, though, the mystery was less important than the characters. The question is--was that the right strategy?

I've been bouncing around the Net this morning, and many critics seem to be disappointed. The ending did seem pat, as the "Sideways" world turned out to be an afterlife, set possibly many years in the future, as the characters (but not all) were existing in some sort of peaceful place, oblivious to their past on the island. Desmond, he of the time-traveling visions, figured it out first, and made it his mission to track down the others and wake them up so that they could "move on," gathering together in a church (judging by the multi-denominational stained glass window, it must have been a Universalist Unitarian church), be reunited with their true loves, and head off into a bright light.

Back on the island, which was the "real world," Jack replaces Jacob long enough to escort Desmond to the heart of the island, which turns out to be a drain. Desmond pulls a stone plug, which presumably unleashes evil on the world. He does this because when this is done, the Man in Black (the Smoke Monster) becomes mortal, and he and Jack duke it out on a cliff. Jack gets stabbed (in a Christ-like spot, hearkening back to the painting of Doubting Thomas), but Kate shoots Smokey. Now Jack has to put the plug back in, so evil will be contained. He does, but mortally wounded, he passes the baton to Hurley, who accepts it and takes on redeemed Ben as his number two. Six characters--Sawyer, Kate, Miles, Lapidus, Richard and Claire, make it off the island, to what fate we know not, only that when (some of them) die they end up at that church.

I got this right away, but there are some who don't. I've been reading that the island was purgatory, but it's clear that it was not--only Sideways world was. The key line was when Hurley, talking to Ben from the church (Sideways Ben is aghast to remember all the horrible things he did on the island, and decides not to join the party inside) tells him that he was a great number two. This indicates that Sideways is some years after the events of the island, and that the characters did not die at the same time.

So, if I have that figured out, there I some things I don't. For the picayune, there are innumerable questions that were not answered. A short list:

1. What was Widmore's end game?
2. What was the true nature of Eloise? What was her agenda in sending the castaways back?
3. Why was Ilana in a Russian hospital bandaged from head to toe, and why did she consider Jacob a father?
4. Who was shooting at Sawyer's outrigger during the time-skipping phase?
5. What was with all the Egyptian imagery, and who built the statue?
6. I understand why Michael wasn't in Sideways world (he was condemned to remain on the island) but why weren't Lapidus or Richard there?
7. What were the Others (besides Ben, Richard and Juliet) doing on the island, and how were they brought there (I'm speaking of Tom, Mikhail, etc.)
8. Why did Jacob assign numbers to the candidates? How did he travel freely from the island to the rest of the world, especially since he at one time believed there was no other world than the island?

I could go on, but to get hung up on these questions is to miss the larger point, I suppose. I do know that while watching the show I was gripped, and the sentimental ending hit me right where I lived. These kinds of endings have been very successful over the years (it was very similar to the M*A*S*H* finale in that respect), and if a show can move me I can overlook certain things that may have just got lost in the shuffle. After all, a TV show is not life.