*** Official Lost Season 6 *** (1 Viewer)

[Iraqi Information Minister]

Question: what was the significance of the shoe dangling from the tree where Jack finally fell? Whose was it?

I think that the fact that the shoe looked old and weathered is intented to be a reinforcement that it wasn't all just a dream.Two more things I think they blew it on: Neither Aaron nor Penny should have been in the Church.

 

[packersfan]

I'm seriously leaning toward both the island and the ALT being a construct of Jack's imagination as he was dying on the island after the plane crash. Elaborate, yes, but it does make sense because it satisfies all of the things that Jack wanted in life.

"Everything that happened, happened...in Jack's mind".

As I posted last night, I think that's an interesting idea and one I can see people clinging to. Matthew Fox appears to side in that direction. However, that idea for me negates the importance of the other characters' journeys and limits the show's scope to Jack only. While Jack was my favorite character, I don't embrace the idea of limiting who those characters were and what their journeys were about. For me, it's emotionally unsatisfying to make the entire show about Jack and his path to redemption. I think that's a part of it - a big part, but just a part. And Christian's statement would seem to negate the theory that all of this played out in Jack's mind:

"Everything that's ever happened to you is real."

The writers spelled it all out. What happened on the island happened. That wasn't just Jack's mind at work. The island was real and those people were real and they all needed one another. That's what I believe the show was ultimately about.

Christian also said that he was real, and that they were all real. So "real" doesn't necessarily mean "real" in the sense that you're thinking. "Real" seems to mean life, the afterlife, purgatory, all of it.

I took it to mean everything that happened on the island was real. Again, I think it limits the importance of the show if it was all just a figment of Jack's imagination. The producers have stressed repeatedly the show was about these characters, not just Jack. The finale drove that point home repeatedly. The finale wasn't just about Jack moving on. It was about all of them needing one another. Jack just happened to be the death which ended the series.

 

[bostonfred]

I went to bed sure that the Island was real and the sideways world was purgatory.I woke up and read this thread, and realized there will be debate for years...which is great for a TV show. I just can't believe no one else thought of this. Why didn't Jack become a smoke monster? MIB fell into the light and then came out of the island and died just like Jack...I thought we'd see a "Jack" smokey and hear the smoke monster sound as the credits rolled. Now THAT would have been a great final scene.

The MIB didn't become the smoke monster when he went down in the pit. The MIB died. We saw his body. The smoke monster became MIB. And he could become other dead people, too. The question that was left unanswered is how that happened. Did the smoke monster exist before the MIB went into the light? Did the MIB land in the light? Did the smoke monster somehow plug up that hole or did something come out of that hole that inhabited him or ?

 

[Wyld Stallyns]

I'm so 'effing glad this show is done and out of my life forever. I'll be interested in reading an article or a book by the writers one day telling me what the heck I was watching for 6 years of my life... Until then, just glad it's over.

 

[Porkchop Express]

Anyone care to explain why Jack had an invented son in his "moving on", or a fake ex-wife, or why Penny, a woman he didn't even know and met once in passing, was one of the most important people in his life at his "passing on", or why Aaron, someone he last knew as a toddler, was a baby. Or why his moving on purgatory had scenes without him, entirely from other people's point-of-view.

 

[beer 30]

MAJOR PLOTLINES ON LOST THAT TURNED OUT TO BE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT1. "Walt is really special"2. "Sayid kills a bunch of people for Ben"3. "Mr. Eko"4. "People on the island can't have babies"5. "Faraday"6. "Eloise Hawking"7. "Widmore v. Ben"8. "NOT PENNY'S BOAT"9. "You're a candidate"10. "Jacob brought people to the island"11. Numbers12. Dogan and the hippie @ the TempleIlana? Was she necesary?14. Hot chick and her boyfriend and a suitcase full of diamonds15. Libby being at Hurley's insane asylum and selling Desmond her boat16. Dharma was actually pretty superflous as well

The whole Dharma thing has me scratching my head. I think Dentist said it, this story should/could have been told in 3 seasons without all the "stuff" that had no bearing on storyline.

Loved the ending. Tied it all together for me. Honestly, I'll never look at my life in the same way again. This show changed me.

Dude, really? It's TV, get off the couch.

Oh and giving Bernard and Rose quality minutes during the finale was Nice touch.

The only person I could think of last night when it all ended was Dentist. He's probably still basking int he euphoria of the finale. Almost like the writers said "for the love of all things holy we will silence the Bernard shtick once and for all!"

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

Anyone care to explain why Jack had an invented son in his "moving on", or a fake ex-wife, or why Penny, a woman he didn't even know and met once in passing, was one of the most important people in his life at his "passing on", or why Aaron, someone he last knew as a toddler, was a baby. Or why his moving on purgatory had scenes without him, entirely from other people's point-of-view.

Because it wasn't just Jack's purgatory?

 

[TitusIII]

Here's where I stand.If I take this 2 and 1/2 hours independent from a large portion of the rest of the series, I loved it.But when I try to reconcile and make it fit together with everything along the way, I'm struggling.Definitely need to think about it for a while.

Of course the writers screwed themselves a bit, and did everything they could to make it fit...

 

[Lehigh98]

Have some random thoughts popping up as I think through the ending and the past seasons so I may just start throwing them out here to see if anyone else is thinking the same thing or has any better memory of the past scenes or insight.

When Desmond turned the key and was jumping around in time he met Eloise Hawking who seemed to have "otherworldly?" knowledge. Did Desmond actually die for a short time when he turned the key? Was that the sideways / purgatory Eloise he met seasons ago and seemed to still have knowledge of the meeting during the last season? Is that why Desmond thought in the finale that when he "went into the light" he would be "transported" to the next world?

 

[Jefferson the Caregiver]

If anything this gives hopes to writers that you can take whatever artistic liberties you want, go in any unexplainable direction uresolved and get away with it, because at the end of the day people will still be satisfied with this journey to nowhere.

The viewers give the writers too much credit when they debate and theorize because the writers left the whole damn thing unresolved. It's nothing but an elaborate trick and appeared to work on most of the fanbase.

 

[packersfan]

Anyone care to explain why ... Penny, a woman he didn't even know and met once in passing, was one of the most important people in his life at his "passing on", or why Aaron, someone he last knew as a toddler, was a baby. Or why his moving on purgatory had scenes without him, entirely from other people's point-of-view.

Because the show wasn't about just him.

 

[Lehigh98]

Question: what was the significance of the shoe dangling from the tree where Jack finally fell? Whose was it?

I think that the fact that the shoe looked old and weathered is intented to be a reinforcement that it wasn't all just a dream.Two more things I think they blew it on: Neither Aaron nor Penny should have been in the Church.

That scene was screaming "we'd like to show a happy ending", how is it happy if Desmond isn't reunited with Penny and Claire / Charlie / Kate / Jack aren't reunited with Aaron? Remember, Jack is Aaron's uncle and raised him like a father for a while. I'm going the other way and wondering if it should have included Desmond and Penny's son Charlie and possibly Jack's dead gay son... but thinking he may have never really existed? Jack's son is something I'm having trouble reconciling.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

If anything this gives hopes to writers that you can take whatever artistic liberties you want, go in any unexplainable direction uresolved and get away with it, because at the end of the day people will still be satisfied with this journey to nowhere.The viewers give the writers too much credit when they debate and theorize because the writers left the whole damn thing unresolved. It's nothing but an elaborate trick and appeared to work on most of the fanbase.

It was just like Ralphie in A Christmas Story getting his decoder ring, except instead of "Drink your Ovaltine", the message was "And they died happily ever after".My theory is that the island was really in Al Capone's Vault the entire time.

 

[Jayrok]

The question that was left unanswered is how that happened. Did the smoke monster exist before the MIB went into the light? Did the MIB land in the light? Did the smoke monster somehow plug up that hole or did something come out of that hole that inhabited him or ?

That is what I'd like to know too. Was smokey trapped down there until MIB landed in the light, which freed him? What is the smoke monster, where did it come from, what is it's story?

 

[Lehigh98]

The MIB didn't become the smoke monster when he went down in the pit. The MIB died. We saw his body. The smoke monster became MIB. And he could become other dead people, too.

Not on board with this. Forget the actual wording but the enhanced pilot episode Saturday night explained the MIB became the smoke monster. Guess he didn't need his body after that though.

 

[Snickers]

If anything this gives hopes to writers that you can take whatever artistic liberties you want, go in any unexplainable direction uresolved and get away with it, because at the end of the day people will still be satisfied with this journey to nowhere.The viewers give the writers too much credit when they debate and theorize because the writers left the whole damn thing unresolved. It's nothing but an elaborate trick and appeared to work on most of the fanbase.

quick, someone call the wambulance because they didn't answer all my questions.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

Question: what was the significance of the shoe dangling from the tree where Jack finally fell? Whose was it?

I think that the fact that the shoe looked old and weathered is intented to be a reinforcement that it wasn't all just a dream.Two more things I think they blew it on: Neither Aaron nor Penny should have been in the Church.

That scene was screaming "we'd like to show a happy ending", how is it happy if Desmond isn't reunited with Penny and Claire / Charlie / Kate / Jack aren't reunited with Aaron? Remember, Jack is Aaron's uncle and raised him like a father for a while. I'm going the other way and wondering if it should have included Desmond and Penny's son Charlie and possibly Jack's dead gay son... but thinking he may have never really existed? Jack's son is something I'm having trouble reconciling.

Oh I agree. Desmond without Penny makes intellectual sense, but not emotional sense - so I think the writers sort of picked their poison there.A far as stuff like Jack & his son goes - that's where I think the flash-sideways is more of an idealized world for the characters to live in (anyone remember The Nexus from Star Trek: Generations?). In the real world, before the crash, Jack had no relation with his son and his marriage ends in divorce. In the FS, he's happily married (or is he - haven't quite figured that out) and his kid adores him.When did Jack's son die?

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

It was just like Ralphie in A Christmas Story getting his decoder ring, except instead of "Drink your Ovaltine", the message was "And they died happily ever after".

No. It showed that all these characters that began the show lost and alone were no longer so.

 

[The Dude]

Spoilers= The alternate universe was limbo and was them with "unfinished business" like in Casper, but without the ghosts. They live happily ever after.

They are all going to the same place eventually. Why couldn't they wait for each other over there? Are they a bunch of girls who have to go to the ladies room together?

And why would they be all going to the same place - some of those clowns should be going to hell.

Who? Sayid? He was "redeemed" when he sacrificed himself on the boat. I don't think any of the other characters deserved to go to hell.

Kate - murderSawyer - murderLocke - accomplice to murderand I am sure a bunch more

 

[Statorama]

Anyone care to explain why Jack had an invented son in his "moving on", or a fake ex-wife, or why Penny, a woman he didn't even know and met once in passing, was one of the most important people in his life at his "passing on", or why Aaron, someone he last knew as a toddler, was a baby. Or why his moving on purgatory had scenes without him, entirely from other people's point-of-view.

Because it wasn't just Jack's purgatory?

I was thinking that the island and "alt" realities were real at all, but were simply framework within themselves for each person to "let go" or "find redemption" from the initial "reality" (Kate the murderer, Ford the conman, Sayid the torturer, etc). Essentially, you would live as many "alt realities" as needed until you were ready to "move on".With that, part of Jack's "alt redemption / alt letting go" was having a child so that he could be a better father than his father was to him.ETA: I also thought Jacob "touching" the main characters signified that he felt each one of them would prove worthy of redemption if given the chance.

 

[packersfan]

Kate - murderSawyer - murderLocke - accomplice to murderand I am sure a bunch more

I think one of the points of the show is all of them found redemption on the island. They needed to be brought there in order to purge themselves of whatever sins they had committed in the past. The sense I'm getting is that the people who thought the show was about the island are disappointed in the finale and those who thought the show was about the characters and their relationships are pleased with that. Perhaps that's an oversimplification but that's the vibe I'm getting.

 

[pollardsvision]

I see both sides here.

The show was highly entertaining for 6 seasons, which is the point of a TV show. You really can't knock a show that entertained so many people for 6 seasons.

On the other hand, I think people just expected more from LOST.

After the first couple of seasons, I think people expected far more from LOST than "don't get mad if it doesn't make sense, we're just here to entertain".

After all, LOST was supposed to be for people that wanted a smart show that was also entertaining. How else could LOST lovers look down on the people that still liked 24 if LOST was also just mind-numbing, adrenaline rushed entertainment with no real purpose to it all?

I love the show, but it makes sense for people to feel a bit let down.

 

[packersfan]

With that, part of Jack's "alt redemption / alt letting go" was having a child so that he could be a better father than his father was to him.

I agree. The Sideways world wasn't a "real" world. The Island world was. So when Jack was ready to move on, he did so without clinging to what he had fabricated in the Sideways world, i.e. a son who never existed and Juliet as his ex-wife.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

It's pretty clear that the island was real and sideways world was "something else" otherwise how did any of the oceanic people know Ben and Desmond? What would Locke have to forgive Ben for?

I pretty much loved the finale and am going to miss these characters, which apparently was whatthe series was really about.

Question: what was the significance of the shoe dangling from the tree where Jack finally fell? Whose was it?

Killing him I suppose

I know. Hence the passengers of Oceanic815 didn't die in the plane crash.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

I think it's been said already, but I agree that the exchange between John & Ben is cool.

John has gone from not being able to forgive his father for stealing his kidney to being able to forgive Ben for killing him.

 

[Giant Wooden Badger]

When did Jack's son die?

Like Locke said, he didn't have a son. The son was part of the "purgatory" world. He wasn't real.

 

[Buckna]

How can you not appreciate the fact that the sideways turned out to be purgatory? It's the ultimate nod to the show's zeitgeist. This was a TV drama, not a retelling of an epic tale written beforehand. Plots had to go nowhere, ideas had to be abandoned. characters had to go in different arcs. All of the main players involved with the show have said numerous times they were trying to create a good show, not create a flawless mythology. Actors like Emerson were signed on for 3 episodes and after seeing him and what he could do, they changed a major course and made him the leader of the Others. Changes like that, for the sake of the entertainment of the show, are going to lead to holes in the narrative.It was show about questions, not a show about answers. And if you accepted the show for what it was, you could enjoy it, like I did. But if you wanted answers, tight plots and rigid mythology then you were doomed to be disappointed. I just wanted to be entertained and have most of it make sense, with the understanding that a TV show is going to be affected by real world influences like writer's strikes, actors getting pissy or DUI's, etc.The show used devices like flash-forwards, time travel and sideways/purgatory as a way to entertain and tell a good and unique story compared to what we normally see on TV, not as a way to reconcile mysteries and long-term visions. 6 seasons of flashbacks as the only other narrative device would have been boring. This was someone opening a restaurant and choosing to serve the food they wanted and changing recipes and adding items to the menu as they went along, but still with the goal of running a successful restaurant that kept people coming back. The decor stayed mostly the same, the staff had a few core people while others floated in and out, contributing to both good and bad experiences. But the food was always good, even if there were things on the menu throughout the years that weren't to your taste, and it had a big following of customers that enjoyed going there once a week. While there were other patrons that complained about what was (or wasn't) on the menu or how it was prepared, but still kept coming back. Maybe with the hope that the special dish from their first few visits would finally return.And how you felt about the last 10 minutes probably says a lot about which type of customer you were.

This is another good oneI dont know why I am having trouble articulating my thoughts. Maybe because I have so many running thru my head but you guys are doing a great job of expressing what I can not

Another vote for a good post. Lots in there that I agree with and is along my same line of thinking. If I wasn't swamped at work this morning I would love to talk about the show more.

 

[Dr. No]

I enjoyed seeing Dr. Bernard have a satisfying ending, even if his part in the plot seemed a bit forced.

I don't know really how I wanted the show to end, I'm not even sure how I would've written the ending I would've liked to see.

What was written wasn't terrible, and it was very character driven, which harked back to the good seasons.

I still felt unsatisfied about many of the story arcs including what the deal was with Walt, more information about Widmore/Faraday/Eloise (that didn't seem closed or very well explained).

Overall I'm fine with the ending.

If I were going to rewrite Lost, or if I was going to remake the show 15-20 years from now, I'd choose to do it in a 3 season arc and just eliminate alot of the story lines that didn't have a payoff.

I think you could do a plane crash with some island inhabitants, and have it be a special magical island without all the irrelevant scenes and have a pretty damn good show. Could've been done with maybe even as little as 1-2 seasons or maybe even a movie trilogy. And of course i'd make Bernard a bigger part of the show.

 

[packersfan]

When did Jack's son die?

Like Locke said, he didn't have a son. The son was part of the "purgatory" world. He wasn't real.

Cuse and Lindeloff really did clearly explain a lot of what we saw last night. This was another example.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

When did Jack's son die?

Like Locke said, he didn't have a son. The son was part of the "purgatory" world. He wasn't real.

I thought he was talking about the real world.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

If I were going to rewrite Lost, or if I was going to remake the show 15-20 years from now, I'd choose to do it in a 3 season arc and just eliminate alot of the story lines that didn't have a payoff.

I think that's what you have to do anyway. Pick the parts of the story that you like and go with it. Ignore the rest.Kind of like the FFA.

 

[The Dude]

Kate - murderSawyer - murderLocke - accomplice to murderand I am sure a bunch more

I think one of the points of the show is all of them found redemption on the island. They needed to be brought there in order to purge themselves of whatever sins they had committed in the past. The sense I'm getting is that the people who thought the show was about the island are disappointed in the finale and those who thought the show was about the characters and their relationships are pleased with that. Perhaps that's an oversimplification but that's the vibe I'm getting.

I am not certain whether redemption is implied or over looked for a neat and tidy ending. If you really look at Kate from day 1 she was never a very good person - no matter how much the fanbase wanted to romanticize (figuratively and literally).

 

[The Noid]

I don't understand how someone can complain about not getting answers and then complain about the answers they get because they were weak (like the complaints about the last 10 minutes of the finale.) I don't get why you stuck with 120 hours of the show under those circumstances.

I found some flaws with the finale (why is Jack not the smoke monster? what was the island underwater all about?) and moments (Kate: "I saved you a bullet" and Hurley's speech to Sayid before going to get Charlie.) But none of it soured me on enjoying a top 5, for me, series finale. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

At least we got an ending, whether people liked it or not, and it didn't fade to black before the Church scene leaving us all to debate what the sideways world was. We got closure on who the new Jacob(s) and Richard were, saw the smoke monster get defeated, understood Desmond's importance, etc. We also got "happy moments" (rather than happy endings) between the characters that mattered. And a closing scene that was telegraphed, but still poignant.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

I am not certain whether redemption is implied or over looked for a neat and tidy ending. If you really look at Kate from day 1 she was never a very good person - no matter how much the fanbase wanted to romanticize (figuratively and literally).

What was wrong with Kate? She killed the guy beating up her mom even though her mom didn't want it.

 

[The Dude]

Question: what was the significance of the shoe dangling from the tree where Jack finally fell? Whose was it?

I think that the fact that the shoe looked old and weathered is intented to be a reinforcement that it wasn't all just a dream.Two more things I think they blew it on: Neither Aaron nor Penny should have been in the Church.

Agreed - based on Christian's set up.

 

[packersfan]

Kate - murderSawyer - murderLocke - accomplice to murderand I am sure a bunch more

I think one of the points of the show is all of them found redemption on the island. They needed to be brought there in order to purge themselves of whatever sins they had committed in the past. The sense I'm getting is that the people who thought the show was about the island are disappointed in the finale and those who thought the show was about the characters and their relationships are pleased with that. Perhaps that's an oversimplification but that's the vibe I'm getting.

I am not certain whether redemption is implied or over looked for a neat and tidy ending. If you really look at Kate from day 1 she was never a very good person - no matter how much the fanbase wanted to romanticize (figuratively and literally).

I don't think anyone is entirely "good" or "bad" in most instances. I also don't believe that any of the characters were the same at the end as they were at the beginning. That was another key aspect of the show.

 

[packersfan]

why is Jack not the smoke monster?

Because Jack represents goodness. The MIB was always on the "dark" side. So when he passed into the light something evil was created. That wasn't the case with Jack.

 

[stbugs]

How can you not appreciate the fact that the sideways turned out to be purgatory? It's the ultimate nod to the show's zeitgeist. This was a TV drama, not a retelling of an epic tale written beforehand. Plots had to go nowhere, ideas had to be abandoned. characters had to go in different arcs. All of the main players involved with the show have said numerous times they were trying to create a good show, not create a flawless mythology. Actors like Emerson were signed on for 3 episodes and after seeing him and what he could do, they changed a major course and made him the leader of the Others. Changes like that, for the sake of the entertainment of the show, are going to lead to holes in the narrative.It was show about questions, not a show about answers. And if you accepted the show for what it was, you could enjoy it, like I did. But if you wanted answers, tight plots and rigid mythology then you were doomed to be disappointed. I just wanted to be entertained and have most of it make sense, with the understanding that a TV show is going to be affected by real world influences like writer's strikes, actors getting pissy or DUI's, etc.The show used devices like flash-forwards, time travel and sideways/purgatory as a way to entertain and tell a good and unique story compared to what we normally see on TV, not as a way to reconcile mysteries and long-term visions. 6 seasons of flashbacks as the only other narrative device would have been boring. This was someone opening a restaurant and choosing to serve the food they wanted and changing recipes and adding items to the menu as they went along, but still with the goal of running a successful restaurant that kept people coming back. The decor stayed mostly the same, the staff had a few core people while others floated in and out, contributing to both good and bad experiences. But the food was always good, even if there were things on the menu throughout the years that weren't to your taste, and it had a big following of customers that enjoyed going there once a week. While there were other patrons that complained about what was (or wasn't) on the menu or how it was prepared, but still kept coming back. Maybe with the hope that the special dish from their first few visits would finally return.And how you felt about the last 10 minutes probably says a lot about which type of customer you were.

This is another good oneI dont know why I am having trouble articulating my thoughts. Maybe because I have so many running thru my head but you guys are doing a great job of expressing what I can not

Another vote for a good post. Lots in there that I agree with and is along my same line of thinking. If I wasn't swamped at work this morning I would love to talk about the show more.

Loved the show, loved the finale last night. I am sure plenty of people didn't like it, but while I was one of the over-analyzers (mainly because I liked the show so much), the finale was as great as I hoped it would be. The characters that I enjoyed watching had a great show.

 

[Lehigh98]

I think the ending was fitting for a show that really made you enjoy thinking about it. We've been discussing and interpreting LOST for 6 years and obviously we enjoy it to some degree or we would have given up on the show. Putting on an ending that clearly tied up all of the questions and showed exactly how things ended would be out of line with the show that we've all watched and enjoyed for all these years. People get to do what we're doing and discuss, interpret, argue their theories just like we've done through the entire show.

For what I think about the finale I think we need to break it up into a few parts:

Island Ending - I liked the build up and anticipation when Jack agreed to go to the light with Locke and told him in advance that he'd kill him "That's a surprise". Turning off the island's source of "magic" long enough to kill one of its creations "smoke monster" seems like a great way to resolve the how do you kill the smoke monster problem. Have a bit of an issue with them repelling down the well with no ill effects that turned MIB into Smokey but guess they made up the source so they can also make up its properties. Maybe the thought was no effect on Jack as protector or Desmond as "special?". I think Jack giving his life to save / fix the island / world / his friends was a fitting end especially with him returning to the original bamboo field and the last shot being his eye closing.

But, it didn't really end did it? The island and the mythology live on with Hurley and Ben running the show. What happens on the island? What forces come in the future? (I like the suggestions of Walt and Aaron above) Desmond didn't catch the plane, how does he get home to Penny and little Charlie? What happens to the survivors when they get "home"? Do Kate and Sawyer finally get together? Claire's reunion with Aaron, etc. Leaves alot to the imagination and each viewer can make their own ending. (And I'm sure there will be some that try to tell these stories in the future even if its just fan fiction.

Sideways / Alt Timeline - Right or wrong I think this was their way to give people the happy endings and character resoultions they wanted. Would it have been better to use this time in the final season to answer all of the possible questions instead of focusing on the characters and their relationships and emotions? Maybe, but all along (maybe it has faded in the last couple seasons) this has been a show about the characters with the mysteries as the background, not the other way around. If you have to choose one or the other, I think I'd go with the way they ended it as the character resolutions were really worth it in some cases. (My living room got pretty dusty when Charlie, Claire, and Aaron were all reunited)

Answers - Now you could say, well then why not extend the show for another season to answer all of the questions and plotlines that they've brought up in the show? Well, how much do you need to know? There are some major questions I keep hearing but then also some minor squabbles that I wonder why people even care. I guess it comes down to the fact that once the magician reveals the trick, the magic loses its effect. Maybe the producers decided to err on the side of not answering enough over answering too much. Hell, maybe they just threw their hands up at one point and said "I have no idea how to resolve all this, screw it", but I'm ok with it as I've loved the show and think the way it was left struck the right balance of staying true to their story, giving people emotional closure, leaving some mystery, and letting your draw your own conclusions on the true nature of the island.

 

[packersfan]

What happens to Desmond who remains on the island?

It was strongly suggested that Desmond left the island. Ben told Hurley that he could change the rules if he wanted.

Do Kate and Sawyer finally get together?

Doubtful. If we go by the idea of "constants" then the finale told us clearly that Sawyer and Juliet are one another's constants while Kate and Jack are joined together.

 

[The Dude]

Not that it's worth discussing but I never got how Locke looked into the eye of evil and found the beauty of the island.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

1) Interesting religious allegory in that Jack has his side pierced just before his death.

2) I don't think that Hurley was made like Jacob when he drank the water. At that point, the Island was switched to "Off" and therefore I would think Jack would be too. So there was no power to transfer.

 

[Lehigh98]

why is Jack not the smoke monster?

Because Jack represents goodness. The MIB was always on the "dark" side. So when he passed into the light something evil was created. That wasn't the case with Jack.

This was an issue I had as well. But maybe the protector is allowed down there with no ill effects?Maybe Desmond is as well due to whatever the ability is that makes him "special"?The smoke monster is already the smoke monster so what more could happen to him?But then why couldn't Smokey go down there and do it himself now? The writers came up with the magical well so guess they can give it whatever properties they want.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

I'll see you in another life, brother.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

I'll see you in another life, brother.

 

[Dr. No]

(My living room got pretty dusty when Charlie, Claire, and Aaron were all reunited)

this post reminded me I felt very unsatisfied with Claire/AaronAll the big deal that was made about Claire's son being critically important because of what the fortune teller said, etc... all of that.. no payoff.Those are scenes that if one were to rewatch would be incredibly unsatisfying.

 

[David Dodds]

Here is a post from another board that summarizes it pretty well for me:

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It seems like a lot of people are confused about the ending, I was not, assuming I am correct about it, here is an easy explanation.

Season 1 - They all crashed. All the characters we knew and loved the last 6 years DID NOT DIE HERE! I repeat, they did not die here.

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Season 2 - Stuff happened

Season 3 - Stuff happened

Season 4 - Stuff happened

Season 5 - Stuff happened

Amongst this stuff, lots of people died!

Season 6 - Let's ignore the alt. universe.

More people died. At the end, the Hurley is the new Jacob, the new protector of the island. He may be there for thousands of years, but eventually he will die. Ben is his sidekick, the new Richard, he may be there for thousands of years, and eventually he will die. Desmond is with them, but Hurley will get him off the island, he is the new Jacob, he has powers. Eventually he will die.

Jack died (with Vincent, Matthew Fox's dog in real life, laying next to him, so ****ing sad). Kate, Claire, Sawyer, Lapidus, Miles, and Richard all flew off the island. Let's assume they lived happily ever after, but eventually, they all died too. Everyone dies! That's life for ya, death and taxes are the only two sure things.

Now this is where the opening of Season 6 starts, once everyone is dead. They are all in purgatory. It all begins in the plane because this is where the most important part of their lives began, where they met the most important people they would ever meet, Oceanic Flight 815.

Problem though is, they are dead but not at peace. They all can't move on. They all miss each other. There are too many stones yet unturned. Too many sins not atoned for.

Charlie tried to kill himself, but he couldn't die, he was already dead! When he saw this, he then had a flash of what meant most to him while he was alive . . . Claire. He opens the door for Desmond, and Desmond opened the door for everyone else. Every person had to realize what they all had been through, the giant adventure. They had to see all the sacrifices they made, all the things they did, the HELL they went through, and they had to see it together. Jack was just the last one to figure it out in the afterlife.

Ben couldn't move on just yet. Having Hurley give him a thumbs up and Locke forgiving him wasn't enough. He killed his dad, he killed his daughter, he killed all of Dharmaville! He wasn't ready yet, he needed to atone.

Everyone else though, they were sitting in the church, much like passengers in the plane, and the two most important people, Jack and Locke, were in the front row, on a flight to their ultimate peace.

That was the tv show LOST! It was an adventure about a group of people who were alone, they had no one, they were dubbed a tremendous responsibility, and they were all LOST. In the end, after they saved the world, after they made sacrifices, they were all together in the end, no longer alone, no longer LOST.

 

[ceo3west]

Surprised the religious overtones aren't getting more discussion.

Christian Shephard leading the crew into the afterlife? hmmm...

 

[tdog]

If I were going to rewrite Lost, or if I was going to remake the show 15-20 years from now, I'd choose to do it in a 3 season arc and just eliminate alot of the story lines that didn't have a payoff.

I think that's what you have to do anyway. Pick the parts of the story that you like and go with it. Ignore the rest.Kind of like the FFA.

If you stay on a big picture level, you don't have to ignore much. People with problems seek purpose in order to make lasting connections, a basic story re-told in an entertaining way. Could apply to anyone we saw on the island. We just don't know if the other characters had a happy ending. I think you have to accept that "real" is an abstract concept to be ok with the story.

 

[Lehigh98]

What happens to Desmond who remains on the island?

It was strongly suggested that Desmond left the island. Ben told Hurley that he could change the rules if he wanted.

Yeah, I just meant remained on the island and wasn't on the plane.In my mind he gets back to Penny and little Charlie.Maybe he gets a call from Hurley for a little help sometime in the future though... or maybe little Charlie inherited Desmond's abilities.

Do Kate and Sawyer finally get together?

Doubtful. If we go by the idea of "constants" then the finale told us clearly that Sawyer and Juliet are one another's constants while Kate and Jack are joined together.

Yeah, but in the real world Juliet and Jack are dead and Sawyer and Kate have alot of history and alot of life left.