The series finale of Lost didn’t settle every question, but it did settle many of the long-running questions raised by fans. Although my live viewing was frustratingly complicated by failed transmission equipment at ABC affiliate, WEWS, I was able to watch the entire episode thanks to iTunes. So let’s settle the things that can be settled regarding Lost.
Yeah, this is a break from my normal topics. Feel free to skip this if you didn’t watch Lost. In fact, since there are major spoilers here, you probably ought to skip it unless you have seen the finale!
- The island wasn’t purgatory – A very popular theory during the first few years of Lost was that they all really died in the crash of Oceanic flight 815 and the island was purgatory or even hell. The concept would be that they would suffer for their real-life sins and when they found redemption they would be able to move on. Although redemption was a major theme of the show, I think we can definitely say that they survived the plane crash and lived, suffered, and (some) died on the island.
- LA X was purgatory – The entire season 6 alternate reality was, as Christian Shephard points out, constructed in the minds of the survivors and their friends as a “waiting room” until they “remembered” and decided to “move on.” Although we don’t know where they go after LA X, we do know that punishment and redemption played a big part while they were there – a textbook definition of purgatory. Apparently, LA X was a mash-up of each person’s own conception of himself, and what he deserved if the plane had never crashed.
- Everyone dies, just not at the same time – No doubt, the producers must have been tempted to kill everyone off in the finale. But just as they chose to allow these people to survive the initial plane crash, they chose to let some live and others die. Of the main characters, Boone, Shannon, Charlie, Michael, Locke, Sun, Jin, Sayid, and Jack die and Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Hurley, Rose, and Bernard live (for now). Sawyer, Kate, and Claire seem to make it off the island in the Ajira plane, Hurley and Ben stay and rule the island for some time, and Rose and Bernard seem safe as well. Of course they all die eventually, but they don’t “get it” on screen.
- Jacob was a jerk – The two thousand year regime of Jacob was cruel and violent, and the rules were his alone, not dictated by the island. Although he was on the side of good, Jacob was not a good person and the game he played with smokey was entirely unnecessary. He set everything in motion and spent two millenia trying to fix his mistake by manipulating others and delivering them to their deaths. Presumably, the rule of Hurley and Ben was far different.
- Benjamin Linus wasn’t evil – Like so many literary characters, we spent the majority of five seasons trying to figure out which side Ben Linus was on. In the end, we see that although he was selfish and jealous, Ben had enough good inside to be redeemed. All it took was Hurley’s sincere invitation to bring it out.
- Everyone has a chance at redemption – Ben Linus helped to set up a new positive island regime with Hurley, and he was able to “remember” and show up at the church (though he chose not to go in yet). Sayid also chose to redeem himself, sacrificing himself on the sub and choosing to help Shannon in LA X. Locke and Jack were never really evil, but were filled with the same self-hate as everyone else. In the Lost world, everyone has a shot at redemption.
- There were ghosts on the island – That’s right, ghosts. Though Michael as much as told us this a few episodes back, many still wondered if this was a trick from Smokey or even Jacob. But the appearance of Christian Shephard at the church, his conversation with Jack, and the ultimate resolution of the series demonstrates beyond a shadow of doubt that there were remnant spirits of the dead on that island.
- Juliet and Sawyer were meant for each other – As pathetic as it sounds, the Jack/Kate/Sawyer+Juliet love quadrangle was a major running storyline on Lost. The “remembering” scenes in the finale provide some final insight into this plot: Sawyer and Juliet spark each other’s memory, so they belong together. But the wake-up calls for Jack and Kate come from other sources entirely: Jack is sparked by his father’s coffin, and Kate by Claire’s giving birth to Aaron. Although they (finally) profess their love, Jack+Kate do not equal Sawyer+Juliet.
- Nobody will have daddy issues with Jack – Sorry, David, you were a figment of Jack’s imagination. Nearly every character on Lost had some problem or another with his father or mother, but this was to become the primary mental block for Jack. Although he wished he could break the cycle with his own son, Jack ended it by never having children. Goodbye, daddy issues!
- This was human drama not science fiction – The mysterious island kept us speculating and coming back for more for six seasons, but the finale answered one last question: What kind of show is this? In the end, we don’t know if the island was home to alien technology or a battle ground for warring gods and demons and we don’t care. Lost was always about people, and the finale rightly focused on their struggles and redemption.
So there you have it. The Lost finale answered some of the most important questions of the series but focused on the human element rather than the sci-fi mysteries. After watching the finale, I have to say it was satisfying in a way that Battlestar Galactica, for example, was not. The characters found redemption and the mysteries of the island remained, for the most part, intact. I call this a win.