What Was Lost About...really?

Lost was a television drama that aired between 2004 and 2010. Ostensibly, it was the story of survivors of a plane crash on a strange island in the South Pacific.

It had a large ensemble of characters whose backstories were revealed in flashbacks.

It had high ratings, won awards but mostly, provoked diverse discussions.

When Lost first aired on television, viewers watched an episode a week.

Considering how complicated the characters and plots, how many questions were raised by each episode, a lot of what was and was not significant would be missed during that first viewing.

Today, being able to binge watch online, with no 'spaces' between the episodes the viewer can grasp much more.

Connections between characters, for example, which were missed at first viewing, are clear, as well as the dishonesty of each.

Every character lies and has secrets. It is difficult to ascertain the 'good' from the 'bad' as plot twists leave the viewer unsure if what they are viewing is 'real', or the fantasy of the character, or has been shaped to create a particular impression.

As one binge watches episodes nothing is what it seems, and Lost begins dropping further into unreality.

As the show progressed, I became certain it was a story of purgatory. This was based on the survivors.

It seemed to me, those who had died in the crash went where they were going. Those who survived had issues to be resolved. Hence, here they were, on this weird island where 'normal' no longer existed.

Each Character stranded on the island seemed to act out their 'real' selves or the selves they wished to have been.

In Sarte's "No Exit" , a very famous literary work, three people find themselves locked in a hotel room they can't leave. It is not until the end we find out they were in purgatory, each living the aspects of their lives and unable to leave because of something they had done that had not been resolved.

I viewed "Lost" in that light.

John Locke, one of the survivors, in his real life, nobody. An unwanted nobody.

Yet, on the island, he behaved with an egotism to create the assumption he was 'somebody'. In his real past, he was an unwanted child raised in foster homes.

He was tricked into giving a kidney to his suddenly appearing father. Believing he was on the way to reconciliation found himself abandoned again.

Subsequently, the man who claimed to be his father threw him from a window.

He survived, but was crippled. Yet, he would often shout, Don't tell me what I can or can't do!" which of course doesn't go over big when one is in a wheelchair and others can walk away.

On the island he is not simply able to walk, he is a powerful man. A leader, who can hunt, who can live off the land, who can survive better than anyone.

Where this 'takes' him is where he would have gone if he weren't a cripple. This version of John Locke, on this island is his dream.

Yet, he is manipulated, deceived by one of the most repulsive villians who uses the name 'Ben'.

Various character die during the series.

BOONE

He was in love with his step sister, Shannon, that his life was sewn into her pattern. When he breaks free, becomes himself, the dies.

To me, this was the actual proof that each of these characters would survive long enough to complete their 'cycle', to solve their problems.

EKO

Eko was a Nigerian mercenary. He had wanted to be a priest, instead was a child soldier who grew into a blood thirsty murderer.

He could play the Priest on the island or the murderer. And when he could be the Priest, he let go of life, and became who he had wanted to be.

SHANNON

She was always without purpose, she lived her life off her appearance, off men. On the island she was no body. Asked to help decipher some maps, she began with the typical disclaimers, then, realized that she had a purpose. And this changed her. There was nothing more for her to accomplish. Hence, she died.

CHARLIE

He had been a budding rock star who became addicted to heroin. Now on the island he tries to have use. Constantly told he is going to die, he gives up his life in the belief he is contacting rescuers.

These were more central to the story.

Jack

In his life before the crash, he had nothing but work. He was a doctor who had lived in the shadow of his father and was on the plane to escort the body home.

He took charge of the survivors, spending his days trying to fix things, solve problems, rarely thinking of himself.

(James Ford) Sawyer

He was a con artist who had gone to Australia to find the man who had destroyed his life. He adopted the name Sawyer from that man. His past life is tricky for in the last season he seems to have been someone else.

Interestingly, his Sawyer was the same man who was John Locke's father.

Kate

She was in handcuffs on the plane, captured for murder and other offenses. She had burnt down the house with her father inside and ran away. She did it to save her mother, who turned her in.

On the island she has relationships with Jack and Sawyer.

Sayid

He seems a decent gentleman until the fact he was a torturer for the Republican Guard of Iraq is revealed.

He was in love with a woman who... depending on which version of reality one takes, was either killed in a car crash or had married his brother.

He enters a relationship with Shannon who is killed.

Hurley

A hugely fat chap, who seems nothing yet had won millions of dollars in the lottery. He is full of self doubt, is insulted and pushed around, and takes it as normal. There is a goodness in him.

The survivors had complex issues. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayed, could not solve them with one act.

Through their flashbacks one saw how complex their lives had been how many wrong turns they had made, how difficult it would be to repair when they did not appreciate what was broken.

Their are 'flash fowards' to their futures which were all bleak, making the viewer question if these events really happened or were imagined by the character.

I know that the creators of the series have frequently denied that the island was purgatory, yet, the movement in time, the strange occurrences, the changes can not be easily explained, nor can the last episodes be understood without some reference to something like purgatory.

The Creator can deny and deflect, but there is no way to reconcile the plots unless it is purgatory.