Lost Season Finale: Thoughts

Well, it has been ages since I’ve wrote anything in this blog, which has more or less been abandoned. Sad, considering how much I do enjoy blogging and how helpful a blog was in, you know, remembering what exactly I got up to in the past year, but life gets in the way. There is also the fact that microblogging through twitter and Facebook has drastically changed the way that people brag about their lives and share witty quips when no one is around in person to hear them. And then there is the fact that most of my writing time has been spent on time sensitive projects, plays and scripts and comedy bits, all screaming for attention just a little bit louder than my withered blogging muse. But the time has come for another post, and so here I am. What could have restored by desire to write rambling essays? Why, Lost of course.

Obligatory spoiler warning right here. I’m going to talk about Lost at length and if you don’t want anything (especially the finale) spoiled, turn away now. And since I really think you should see the show and see it unspoiled, please consider this some free friendly advice as well. Season six will be out on DVD soon, if you havn’t started yet that gives you plenty of time to get through seasons 1-5.

Last warning. I'm not responsible for any show ruining past this point! Mea culpa!

So Lost, one of my favorite television shows has finally come to an end. Six years of mystery and intrigue, action and excitement, and the occasional fumble and frequent frustration have come to an end. A two and a half hour finale- One that has left many people scratching their heads or even crying for blood. Thankfully, I don’t include myself in those numbers- I loved the finale, and after a few days of thinking, I’m ready to talk about why.

Lost is pretty unique amongst shows for me, in that it maintained a strong run from top to finish and finished when the creators wanted it to. My other favorite shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Arrested Development certainly can’t say the same. I have high hopes that others, like Dexter and Breaking Bad will have the occasion to do so. Now, Lost isn’t a perfect show- Nikki and Paulo, some clumsy exposition and Kate in general proved the writers were not perfect, but the fact the show never got mired in those things (well, except for Kate I guess, but I didn’t hate her as much as most people seem to) and managed to continue to tell compelling stories and offer tantalizing mysteries.

From the moment I started watching Lost, I knew it was not for everyone. In fact, I’m amazed that it did as well as it did and astonished that it was made on a major network. Part of me wonders if Lost might have fared better critically (from the fans at least) had it aired on HBO or AMC. Watching the first season and reading responses to it online, it was obvious that while the storytelling was indeed compelling most people didn’t have patience to be strung along for as long as the show promised to. When I said before the show was frustrating, I mean frustrating in a good way, one that riles you up and excites you. Some might say that there is no such thing as that kind of frustration. If you’re one of those people, then Lost probably isn’t for you. It was also a show that demanded close attention to detail, with a twist filled plot that came to include flashbacks, flash forwards, time travel, possible alternate dimensions and well over 50 named re-occurring characters. For mass audiences who don’t like their shows getting more complex than CSI or Survivor, there is little wonder that people were put off. They had to be.

But the show stuck to its guns- It stayed weird, it stayed mysterious and it kept the questions coming. This turned people off. Some of them violently so, throwing up their arms in disgust, particularly at those who stuck with the show. I know the feeling, having sneered at friends who stuck with Heroes after my patience had worn down past the point of endurance. But what those who abandoned the show would never experience and never really understand was that the show continued to reward, but in ways that were frankly too involved to explain to those who had lost interest. But frankly, it was their loss. They were lost, while the faithful, we had been found.

And after season three whenever one of them got snarkey about “When are they getting off the island?” we could just tell them that they had, and to shut the hell up because they clearly didn’t get it.

Lost was a show with layers, throwing around pop culture, philosophy and many many clever easter eggs along with the requisite drama. Those were the things that kept the faithful coming back- “Oh my god was that Sawyer walking down the hall?” “Holy crap, what was that Dharma symbol?” “Wait, what number was on that license plate again?” I recall an old live action TV series of my youth, Captain Power. You could buy a light gun to play along with the show at home, shooting the enemies as they appeared on screen in attempts to get a high score by the end of the episode. In Lost, you still had to be quick, but the score was checking how many references you caught, how many callbacks were skillfully inserted, and of course, how many answers were finally, finally revealed and what that meant for what you had seen and better yet, what you were to see in the future.

Even the haters had to agree that Lost featured pretty exceptional technical elements- The cinematography was never less than great, helped very much by the beautiful Hawaiian surroundings. And then you had some of the best production design on TV, which constantly fed the eagle eyed clue hunters while at the same time setting each scene with plenty of atmosphere and nuance. The first time anyone walked into a new location on the island, the viewers joined the characters in peering around the new environment, cautiously anticipating every corner while frantically taking in every detail. In fact, one of Lost’s greatest feats was bringing a real sense of exploration to the series. Side by side with the characters, we trekked through jungles, ran after Charlie, explored abandoned work stations and hid from that damn Smoke Monster. Recall the first trip to the hatch, finally blown open after so many setbacks and discouraging moments. There was a little bit of magic as the camera panned around and that magic is seen all too infrequently.

And then there was the acting, which was always good and frequently top notch. Michael Emerson was always amazing, creating one of the most compelling villains in TV history. Matthew Fox and Terry O’Quinn provided a nice contrast to play against each other, especially so towards the end of the series when their arcs had taken them to find themselves in opposition again but on the reverse sides. There were countless emotional moments in the show- Locke discovering he can walk again, Jin and Sun reuniting, Richard’s back story revealed, Charlie’s always controversial death- but the real acting moments that have stood out for me have been the fantastic subtly that the best of the cast have used to great effect. The last season had many of them, but two stick out: First, Sayid regaining his humanity in time to attempt to defuse the bomb in the sub. In a less capable actors hands it could have been heavy handed, a real “Oh, I guess he’s good now” moment, but instead it had a beautiful light touch, again a great treat to those who are paying attention. And then, Juliet reuniting with Sawyer in the finale- Elizabeth Mitchell had not really stood out to me until that moment, but when she and Sawyer regained their memories and she had to deal with the shock, happiness, pain and doubt- this from a woman who had painfully given up her love once before, only to finally give herself over to it- That’s a powerful bit of acting and well worthy of praise.

Both the acting and writing came together to make one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled, with tons of great memorable characters all over the place. Again, mistakes were made, and production difficulties and various real life issues made some stays prematurely short- Sorry Ana Lucia, Libby, Eko and Walt! Walt in particular got the short shift, but I guess that’s puberty for you. The aforementioned Nikki and Paulo were also a pretty bad misjudgment with mediocre actors, unsympathetic characters and negligible plot development. Thankfully the writers managed a hail mary by tossing a helicopter full of interesting character on the island showing both their nack for new and interesting complications to the story while also proving that they can introduce new characters without insulting the show’s fanbase. Plus, Nikki and Paulo’s death was handled in such a great way that the writers won back much forgiveness with tons of style.

But none of this matters one iota in the grand scheme of things (at least some would have you believe) unless the show wraps up well and finally, FINALLY, answers are given. So now, after all this anticipation, and then two and a half hours of Lost running for home, was it all worth it? Will the timid have a reason to watch the series in the first place?

Yes, and here is why.

There are two main issues that people have with the finale that I want to address. There is the overall plot and the unsolved mysteries, and the ultimate ending of the show. Let’s take those in order.

The creators of the show prepared us for it. They let us know that not everything would be answered by the end of the series, and that we would have to live with that. For some people, that is not adequate. I can understand why, but personally, I prefer not to know everything. The people who claim the writers have been making things up from day one love to point out any plot holes of unexplained phenomena as proof of this, but much of it has turned out to be merely misdirection, and for the people who have been following the story at large without getting snagged on every bush left undisturbed can enjoy it for what it is. Yes, the writers, directors and actors are manipulating you- They do it on every show on television! The point is to let yourself get taken along for the ride.

Does it improve the show to know that the polar bears were brought to the island as part of weird science experiments from the 60s? Do you really need an explanation as to how exactly they managed to survive and potentially reproduce on the island? There might be interesting stories to be told about that, for sure, but it isn’t really what is at the heart of the island. More specifically, do we need to know what the light is, what it really does, or how the guardianship of the island works step by step? No doubt it would help explain some whys and hows and if sewn together elegantly enough, could reinforce the tapestry of mythology the show has built, but aren’t the basics clear enough? The key word here is mythology- something the series has frequently visited, and which in the final season finds itself in the midst of. It is a magical realism where the exact details are not as important as the meaning of things, and when you reach a primal struggle, of an evil (no matter how tortured) versus a good (no matter how flawed), you have all the pieces in place to see the story to the end.

In the two hours of the finale, we got to watch as characters re-united in one world and raced towards the finish line in the other. It was not a lot of explaining: Frankly, I had felt the previous three episodes had given us plenty of that. No, now was the time to start running for the exit, because the doors are about to close. Fans with long memories were treated to callback after callback accompanied by beautiful moments of resolution between characters. Daniel Faraday in particular was my favorite character and watching him re-unite with Charlotte after an all too brief time with her in the previous season made me intensely happy. I can’t imagine any more factual information about the island making me feel the same.

And so then we have the final ten minutes, in which our alternate reality is finally revealed. And yes, we’ve been tricked, misdirected, and if you wish to take umbrage with that you can but again, I found the sensation to be quite satisfying, particularly when I was so sure that the two worlds would be re-united. Instead the show subverted my expectations by indeed reuniting the characters, but only to move on together.

I know many anti religious viewers were miffed, upset that the show would delve into the afterlife when they had come for the mysteries. Men of science, this indeed might appeal more to the men of faith. But personally, I really enjoyed the twist, and found it to be done simply enough as to avoid a myriad of clichés that could have followed. And not being particularly spiritual, I think it is not out of question for a show that prominently featured ghosts and spirits to finally come to the final resting place of every character, or at least, most of them.

The writer in me marveled at the simplicity and grace of it: Harry Potter turned off fans by reveling the end through a flash forward- If everything was fine 20 years down the road, well that just killed any real adventures in that period. But by going to this floating point of death for all the characters, we get to see that indeed Ben and Hurley worked together, that Kate lived a while after escaping the island, and even that Sayeed’s soul was not lost. The clue hunter in me furrowed his brow in the penultimate scene, as Jack touched his fathers coffin, a stained glass window displaying a cross, star, wheel, moon and Hindi character- symbols for every major religion- “What kind of church would have that?” I thought. Ah. Right. Well I suppose THAT church would, wouldn’t it?

Some people really hated the fact that the sideways world turned out to be an afterlife, but personally, I loved it and really do more so after thinking on it at length. The title of the show was never about being physically lost. Had that been true, we would have been robbed of three seasons. No, the show was about the personal displacement each character experienced, as they dealt with their imperfect pasts and dysfunctional presents. There were complications and mysteries and fights and sacrifices. Many people died, some before they had a chance to find their peace. Some got to live another day, and maybe find it in the future. And then some, like Jack, used their last moments to come to terms with themselves and their choices. Not all of them have happy endings, but such is life. For a normal series, that might be enough.

But in the finale of Lost, the characters get a second chance to reconcile, to forgive, to move on. And those who are ready to all get a happy ending. There is something beautiful in that, and well worth six seasons to get to.