Lost: How It Ended
For a really good explanation of the show in its entirity, check out this article by a writer who works with JJ ABRAMS.
It ended in almost the same way as it began – a close up on Jack Shepard’s fading iris.
This time, however, the eye closed.
The series finale of Lost made 13.5 million viewers flick on their T.V’s and watch the two and half hour conclusion. Some had already written off the show as a convoluted mess, already accepting that the finale would disappoint them completely. Others, like me, believed in the core of show, and had high hopes that the last scene would deliver nearly everything we wanted.
So what happened?
The biggest moment came near the end of the two and half hour epic after the story of the Losties on the island had been concluded. Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Frank, and Richard were able to fix the plane and fly away from the Island, just as Jack ‘replaced’ the cork at the centre of the Island.
Sound confusing?
The six year show created more questions than it could ever answer; many people thought that writers were just creating these questions just keep the viewers hooked. Aside from the numerous unanswered questions, below that mine field of problems, lay the true heart of the show – almost like the heart of the island, hiding beneath all the mystery.
It is, and always has been, a show for the characters and about the characters. Lost in its true form is a breathtaking character study that studies every single realm of human spirit. Which is why, in my opinion, I thought the last twenty minutes of the show were absolutely perfect.
In the sideways universe all the Losties start to become intertwined together. Kate and Sayid are in a jail where they are saved by Desmond and Hurley; Jack does spinal surgery on John; Juliet and Sawyer run into each other at the hospital after Sawyer goes there to check in on Jin and Sun; Claire and Charlie have a reunion at Faraday’s concert. When they come into contact with each other they have an epiphany of sorts – a flashback to their time and love shared together on the island.
Everyone, after this revelation, goes to a church – the one where Jack was supposed to have his father’s funeral.
Jack takes the longest to have his epiphany, and when he does, it happens like this:
In the flash sideways world Jack asks his father, who suddenly appears: “How are you here? You’re dead.”
In which he replies: “How are you here?”
The revelation occurs to Jack the he, like is father, is also dead. He touches the coffin and suddenly remembers all the events on the island.
Then he enters a church.
There he sees everyone on Island; they hug, shake hands, kiss. Violin music plays softly, then loudly in the background.
There’s a white light and as it fades away the scene shifts back to Jack’s eye on the island, closing.
What does this all mean?
It means that the sideway universe was created by the Losties as a ‘waiting’ room as sorts. It was a place they all created for each other in order for all of them to be together. The Island and all the strange happenings that took place there did happen and were real. The purgatory aspect of the show was not the entire six seasons, but just the sideways universe in season six.
Proof of this?
- When Kate and Jack first meet in the sideways world, Kate says to Jack, “I missed you so much.” This implies that she had lived a much longer life after this island, one without Jack.
- Hurley tells Ben: “You were a real good number two.” And Ben replies: “You were a great number one.” This says that they both lived together on the island after Jack died, with Hurley being the new Jacob and Ben the new Richard.
- Jacks dad explicitly said: “Some died before you and some long after you… time doesn’t matter here, there is no now. Everyone was waiting for everyone to be able to move on together.”
The island was a place where what happened was very important for the lives of each character. Every one of them came has a character flawed, coming from a life where they were missing something, or had done wrong in their lives. They all, in the simplest way, needed redemption. Now whether they were brought to the island was because Jacob chose them, or because it was ‘destiny’ and the pull of the Island, remains up for debate. The events on the Island forced the Losties together; it forced them to love, to find truth, to find faith. It was the most important part of their lives.
By having the finale end the way it did, in a church with all the Losties together and ready to move on, it embraces one of the fundamental themes of human life. It’s that we all must connect, be able to love, to forgive and to find redemption. We must be able embrace life as gift and – not to sound completely cliché – live life to the fullest.
So when the final violin music played and Jack’s eyelid slowly closed, I wasn’t cursing the producers and writers for not giving us the answers we thought we deserved. I praised them for giving us the biggest and most important answer of all.
Jacks father couldn’t have put it any better.
Jack asked him: “Why are we all here?”
In which he replied: “To remember. And to let go.”
What are your thoughts on the finale?
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