LOST: THE END

[Graphicism]

I enjoyed the ending, now I'm really looking forward to the next chapter, should tie up some loose ends!
 

 

[fuseboxx]

It frustrates me a bit that so many people think that the island was purgatory when Christian explicitly stated that everything was real...

 

[devwild]

Quote:

 I mean just about all the mysteries happened on the island. In real life nothing spectacular or super natural happened and that was the dream? 

 
Theory/Spoilers ahead...
 
I have my own theory about the whole thing (part of why I couldn't sleep Sunday), but the main part of it is that the light was the source of a Creationist-type power, the power in all humans, and what they sought. Basically every human in the Lost universe had some power to mess with the rules a bit if they had enough faith that something was true, resulting in pretty much everything we thought of as supernatural world-wide in the show aside from ghosts/souls themselves.
 
Whoever was the guardian of the island was stronger in this power - Mother and then Jacob defined the rules of the island, and those rules were pretty arbitrary based on their choices. This was pretty much hammered at us in the past few episodes - the Senet game, the increasingly simplified passing of power, Ben's last on-island comment to Hurley... Jacob's strong power was also inadvertently the real source of Smokey. At the time he truly believed what he was doing would result in a fate worse than death, so it did. This is why Jack didn't suffer the same fate.
 
As for the island itself, it was the result of physical manifestation of this power, and the cave itself a manifestation of the connection to this power. That's why you have the cheesy plug metaphor - that's what it was, just a manifestation of something less tangible. You don't need a detailed explanation because it's arbitrary. When they severed the link to the power, the rules became "normal", smokey became mortal, and the island started to fall to pieces - rather than "unleashing" anything. I think the wine metaphor was really just about the island plus Mother and Jacob's rules (the bottle and cork), and Smokey (the wine) - the same terminology wasn't used when talking about the light directly, which was primarily referred to as "going out".
 
Finally you could also say that the whole alt-universe, which was explicitly stated as being created by the souls of those who passed, is another example of the same power, just after death, on "the other side".
 
The crazy vague bits come into play when you start thinking about what this means regarding the origin of the universe, the connection between the island and the afterlife, etc. That can be interpreted a lot of ways, but with all of the various religions explicitly shown during the show, I don't think it's really supposed to matter either. Totally up for interpretation.
 
 
So, it ends up explaining a lot, but doesn't provide a geeky scifi explanation I'm sure many of us would have liked after all these years. The metaphysical catch-all does feel like a cop-out. A lot of people spent a lot of time picking at every detail, and in the end the story points and laughs at such behavior. Personally I think it's kind of cool what they did - I mean, they encouraged this behavior all along, and the purgatory bit will be one of the better writer-vs-viewer gags of all time IMO. Plus, that interaction with the viewer was part of what made Lost great all along.

 

[devwild]

Quote:

I always assumed Dharma brought them there for testing, remember the cages?

Yes, I think this was explained somewhere outside the show as well, like in the ARG they did about Hanso. The polar bears were part of some experiment with the bears acclimating to the different climate.

 

[Edwood]

Very funny rant.
 
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291
 
-Ed

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Very funny rant.
 
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291
 
-Ed

Sweet. Hard to follow close to bedtime, but sweet.
 
What the heck was up with that horse?!

 

[fuseboxx]

Quite comprehensive and well-explained Idiot's Guide to Lost:
 
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/detail.jsp?contentId=183078

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Quite comprehensive and well-explained Idiot's Guide to Lost:
 
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/detail.jsp?contentId=183078

Nice, What surprises me is the number of Love/Like responses on the survey considering all the grumbling I've heard.
 
I agree with the idea that the light was also the link to the afterlife, I think that was the whole reason for the symbolism of the water. I think what the people were seeking though was the power as described above (the light was also called the source, it had two purposes).
 
There are some strong literary references in the show that make more sense now. As much as I actually want to just move on from the show (seriously, I don't normally read much into tv shows, or care), I'm actually kind of tempted to go back and do some skimming through the story and pull out some classic books to read/re-read. Definitely not something I expected.

 

[fuseboxx]

^ Well, people are more inclined to voice out their opinions when they dislike something rather than when they like something So it's not a surprise to see all the negative comments even though in reality, there are much more people that loved the finale than those who hated it.
 
I think it's very true what the writer of that article said that the more you think about the finle, the more one tends to understand and appreciate it more. I'm personally tempted to rediscover the whole show again now that I've seen it once through.

 

[Landis]

Although I started off as a big fan, I kind of lost interest part way through and regained it only casually.
 
I did not expect anything too elaborate given that they reached the final season without explaining too much and thus it would be ridiculous and out of style for them to tackle everything all in one season. I believe most of the viewers who were outraged about the ending didn't follow the show as closely as they thought they did.

 

[mibutenma]

I felt the show answered everything basically.
Its just some stuff takes thought behind it and they didn't hold your hand which some people I guess need.
Or people forget or can't remember somethings. So its still a mystery Uhh what? It was answered already.

The only things I'm dissatisfied with

Jacob's cabin there is still some major flaws with that.

Slightly Ben vs Widmore... although I really liked the end of it.

And the outrigger shootout the other side of it just should have been shown.

And how Jacob/Mib mother aka fake mother was able to kill all those people and destroy the well so easily.
 
And the bit about the others and the whole marking thing with Juliet and exactly what was with all that.

 

[atbglenn]

Loved the show but the ending was a big disappointment. 

 

[devwild]

Quote:

And how Jacob/Mib mother aka fake mother was able to kill all those people and destroy the well so easily.

One option I didn't think about til now - she seemed more aware of the powers she had than anyone else in the show, and it's been stated by the show staff clearly that the guardian has power over the weather on the island, thus the sudden storms. Maybe she fried/destroyed them all with a freak thunderstorm while MIB was out cold?

 

[mibutenma]

I think some people are totally just not getting what the AU was and is.
People unhappy with the ending would it be better just
 
If
 

Spoiler

 
 
The few people who made it off the island in the end just did.
And Jack's still dies. Buts thats it the end.
Would that be a better ending?
 
 
The AU was a life they also lived and its only exists because of the island and its powers and Jughead going off.
Some people still don't think that so... Well think of the conversation Desmond had with Daniel Faraday this isn't suppose to be our lives what if we had some other life but for some reason we changed things (JUGHEAD) no I don't want to let off a nuclear bomb I think I already did.
And think of the reason why Jughead was let off. Jack was thinking of all the people who died because they came to the island and he wanted a restart he didn't get it but he created the AU with it also with help of the islands powers.
It also helped somewhat contain the electromagnetic energy until Dharma could pour concrete over it and make the hatch. It also took them back to 2007 on the island.
The AU also provides in ways a what if scenario if they never crashed on the island.
Its main purpose though is living another life and getting through the characters issues. Eventually they realize they died in OG timeline but some of them still can't move on.
Daniel and Eloise for example he wanted to play piano and she wanted to be a mother to him. Well she was forced to push him to be a physicist go to island and die. But now they can satisfy their need for that life they never had and they get to live it out until their satisfied.
Ben has his problems to and he's dealing with them his father,Alex,Rousseau in the AU.
Dogen gets to live his life with his son.
 
etc...
 
But the island was and is the main characters most important and best thing to happen in their life and although dead they are rewarded.
These people were LOST people hence the show being called LOST. And the island was the best thing ever to happen in their life and now they get to enjoy the people that truly and finally made their life.
But they live a life without the island and then shortly after they originally were going to crash them come to realization of it. And some decide to move on accept the next and better part because they are satisfied with life there is nothing still eating away at them.
Some still aren't satisfied and still gotta live that AU some more.

 

[jack95]

I thought it was really good