Maybe I'm wrong, but I almost get the feeling that most LOST fans (at least in this thread) fall into one of two categories:1) Those that are ok with some of the holes in the show. Their positive view of the show will not be swayed significantly by the finale, regardless of whether it is good or bad. The show has been interesting and entertaining, so some flaws or unadressed issues aren't a big deal. It's been a fun ride for 6 years.2) Those that are disappointed considerably by the possible plot holes and inconsistencies. Their negative view of the show will not be swayed significantly by the finale, regardless of whether it is good or bad. The show started off great, but the last couple of season have left much to be desired... and there is simply no way that the finale can tie up all of the loose ends nicely. It started off as a great ride, but has crashed and burned in the last two seasons.Is there really much of a third group… one that will be swayed by the finale as to whether or not LOST cut the mustard as one of the great TV series in the last 10 years? -Seems to me like this group would be very small and that most of us have made up our minds already.
I think I'm in category 3. I don't need the finale to be the best show ever, but I'll hold it to the same standard I would hold a movie, and I'll judge the show in large part by whether I like that movie. It doesn't need to be a perfect show, but for the last few years, I've been saying well, it will either be the best series ever, or a terrible waste of time, depending on how it ends. So far, I've enjoyed a couple shows this season, and I've been disappointed by a couple, so I'm really looking to this weekend. And while they've disappointed me with how they've answered some of the questions, they've managed to lower my expectations to the point where they could really wow me with a good last episode, or infuriate me with a bad one.
I think "Lost" is one of the finest television shows ever. The writing, acting and production has been consistently stellar from the first season to the last. There were bumps in the storytelling road but every TV show experiences that along the way. While I didn't always agree with all of the storytelling decisions (I thought there was way too much time travel last season, for example) I have remain consistently engaged in the story, the characters and their relationships with one another since the series began. It is unlike any TV show I have ever seen and when it ends on Sunday night, there will be a gaping void in my TV viewing that may never be duplicated (then again I never thought I'd watch a show as good as "The X-Files" was and "Lost" came very close so who knows?).I don't know what to expect from the finale. I just hope for an entertaining 21/2 hours and a resolution that won't make me feel as if the time I spent on that episode was wasted (as was the case with "The Sopranos" ending as an example). If they can wrap up the story in a way that makes me feel as excited about the show as I did after seeing the premiere that would be great. But mainly I just want to be entertained and see the show end on a positive note.
This is nothing like the Sopranos. Each Sopranos episode was generally a standalone episode. Sure, there were longer plot arcs, but each show had a beginning, a middle and an end. Lost doesn't do that. It's always part of the plot arc. They did that episode with the couple that got paralyzed and buried and people were howling that it didn't advance the plot. There's always a previously on Lost and there's always a flashback/forward/sideways that gives you a little more information. Every show ends with some kind of cliffhanger and a big LOST on the screen. That's how they've set up the show - we're always moving towards next show. Well, this is the last next show. They've set up the whole six seasons specifically for this. The Sopranos ending was disappointing for some people, and others - myself included - thought it was a good way to end things in a show that didn't need a perfect ending. The ending to Friends brought things together. It wasn't great, and that show was on the air way too long, but it did what you wanted it to do, and that ended the show on a better note than you'd have expected from the last couple seasons. The last episode of MASH was the most watched show ever until last year, and I can't even tell you exactly how it ended. Each episode of that show was its own entertainment experience. There were happy episodes and sad episodes, there were character driven episodes like the ones where Sigmund the psychiatrist visited and talked about the camp. But all of them were loosely tied together because it was a comedy first and foremost. LOST is different. They've set themselves up since day one as a mystery show, and each show they introduce new mysteries and make you want to see the next one. They set the expectations, they created the mythology, and they chose which questions to answer and which would be left unanswered. There's no reason to apologize for them. This final episode will speak for itself. They'll give us their best shot, and we'll judge them on the journey they've taken us on from beginning to end. As much as possible, I've tried to give them the benefit of the doubt as they've changed it from a show about a plane crash on an island to a show about a hatch and the magic computer numbers to a show about the Others and their polar bear cages to a show about time travel to a show about Jacob and some guy whose name they refuse to share for no apparent reason. This isn't even close to the show I thought I was getting but I've watched it week in and week out because they made it impossible to skip an episode. So here we are. I haven't decided going into this episode how I'll feel walking out, but at the end of two and a half hours, I'll have decided how I feel about the last six seasons. Wow me, and I'll recommend this show too people for years, and I'll buy the DVDs I don't already own. Make it decent, and I'll be talking about it at the water cooler, and I'll probably catch old episodes on TBS or whatever show picks them up. Disappoint me, and I'll tell people not to bother. It's really that simple.