My Thoughts on LOST

Lost ended in a way that was characteristic of every other ending the show had ever had in its 6 year history, unanswered questions. These questions though were not specific to the island, the man in black, or who won – those were clearly answered. The island remained, everything you saw was real, Jack killed the man in black, the light (although out briefly out) persevered. Good beat evil, evil was contained, and free will wins out (Hurley chose to protect the island, Jack chose to die, Kate chose to leave).

But… there are lingering questions, 2 main ones to be exact. Were they dead all along? This was one of the main theories throughout the show. That the island was some sort of purgatory mean to hold them and there was a battle (good verse evil) that needed to be fought. In the closing scene Jack sees and embraces his dead father, his father reveals that Jack is like him, dead. The question comes in his father’s answer, “we all die at some point, some before and some long after.” So, when did Jack die? Was he dead from the final scene on the island or was this some sort of Sixth Sense existence we have been watching?

The other main question has to do with how they all ended up in the church. On one of the closing island scenes with Hurley and Benjamin, Ben indicates that Hurley can change the rules from what Jacob had done, adding that the new rules could be “better.” The closing moments heading into the church indicated that Hurley and Ben had been working together for quite some time, as they complemented each other’s work. Thus, the question presents itself; did the two of them orchestrate this reunion in order to help the survivors of the Oceanic flight in order to “help” them? It is an odd question for a great yet odd show.

Whatever the answers are, I don’t care, it does not matter, it was all make belief anyway. I am glad the show is over and that it is an hour of my week I no longer feel compelled to watch Lost. I though, am admittedly not a diehard fan of the show, so it makes it easier for me. I was one who saw the pilot, loved the show and for the first two years barely missed an episode or even part of an episode. Then it just got stupid. Time travel was lost on me, and I hardly watched any of seasons 3-5. I did catch the season 5 finale, and watched all of season 6.

Anyway, the reason for this post is to give it my 5 minutes of thought (compared to jack’s 5 seconds of fear), and then be done with it. The irony for me personally is found in reading a book about the show, a terrible book where my thought was, “this guy (the author) watches way too much television, I hope I never watch this much TV…” My fear is that I watch too much TV!