Month: May 2010

LOST IN LOVE

This is not a review of the final season of LOST or even the series finale which was televised recently. I merely wish to convey my views on what the final season meant to me personally.

I may have previously mentioned that like many people, I watched the LOST pilot way back in 2004 and was impressed by it. However, I never was quite able to keep up with the series and lost track. Before you know it, four seasons had passed me by and it seemed difficult to pick it up.

Then, one day, I walked into a DVD store and the box sets for the first three seasons were all going for half price. An offer I could not refuse and so I purchased them and well, became hooked to the show! Season 4 soon followed and I become an obsessed LOSTie.

The final season, as usual with the series, resolved some mysteries and raised new ones, the introduction of the flash-sideways kept the series consistent with the two plotline structure but with a twist. At the time, of course, all I knew was this was an alternate reality – and as a sci-fi/comic book geek – I’m pretty familiar with those. It was fun to see how the characters had different lives from the ones portrayed in the “real” timeline. There were even episodes dedicated to the back stories of Richard Alpert, Jacob and the “man in black” which – as previously mentioned – answered questions but raised more as well.

Now to the controversial denouement. We now know that the flash-sideways world is a “limbo” or “Purgatory” type existence which the LOST characters created (how is not evident) so that they might “find” each other before “moving on” to their next destination – heaven? Again, who knows? On the island, Jack defeats the “man in black” and saves the island from destruction but at the cost of his own life, Hurley and Ben become the new guardians of the island and Kate, Sawyer, Frank, Miles, Richard and Claire fly off the island on Ajira 316. In the flash-sideways world, Jack is the last to realize that he is dead as his father, Christian, explains to him what has happened. In the church hall – ostensibly the funeral of Christian – hosts the reunion of the LOST characters – a scene which has struck many as mawkish and sentimental.

Personally, as much as LOST was about the convoluted plotlines, it was more about the characters which the producers/writers and actors developed over the course of six seasons and their interactions amongst each other, that made LOST compelling. Thus, even though the characters were largely put through the wringer in the series, there is the comfort that there is a “happy ending”. This is, of course, a very religious viewpoint but one I have no problem ascribing to. The scenes between Jack and Christian were particularly poignant for those who have lost loved ones, like myself, realizing the promise of reuniting with them in the afterlife. Whatever your religious views may be, surely that very idea cannot be objectionable.

There you have it – like the finale of Battlestar Galactica – I felt pleased and empty at the same time, entertained by a well-crafted work and yet saddened that it was all over. But of course, whilst it may only be a TV show, LOST is not over, as the plots and theories will continue to be discussed by its fans for years to come. Kudos to all involved for giving us this amazing LOST experience.