I was not into television shows then but the episode that I watched was so interesting that it left me wanting for more. Maybe, it was the scenery. Or, it could be the mysterious plot. It could be because of Kate’s sparkling eyes or Shannon’s pretty face. It might be because of the polar bear. But for what reason it was, it led me to follow Lost week after week. This became a habit until I eventually bought the whole Season 1 DVD. I bought the pirated Season 2 DVD and eventually caught up with the show by following Season 2 in AXN and Season 3 via torrents.
For almost five years, watching Lost became my habit. Remarkably, Lost also started my TV addiction. It led me to watch other American TV shows like Prison Break, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, Mad Men, American Idol and a dozen more shows. Even if no TV show could duplicate what Lost accomplished in its first season, it was enough for me to go on the downloading splurge I have been doing for the last four years.
Earlier this week (last weekend if you are in US), the show that started it all had to end. After six solid seasons, Lost was finally saying goodbye. But just like how it started, it ended with a bang.
Six seasons. Several storylines. One awesome show. How did Lost end up this good?
Acting
For the record, I think that Lost is the best drama show ever. The show is not as emotionally compelling as Grey’s Anatomy but the acting in Lost is superb given the wider breadth of its situations. You have the characters reacting on various scenarios that were similar to their past actions. They made it so believable that such twists and foreshadowing would not be that obvious. Of course, you have sterling performances by peculiar characters in Benjamin Linus and John Locke. They made me hate them and empathize the next minute. For the highly emotional parts, you can always trust Jack to deliver. Sayid makes the action sequences in the show credible. The show also boasts of Sawyer’s credible and unique acting due to his amazing wit and edginess.
Show Format
The fact that they are in a mysterious island makes the show interesting enough. This novelty might have faded in the latter seasons but because the writers made up so many unexplained mysteries about the island, we eventually craved for explanations. We speculated on what the Dharma Initiative was planning. We wondered about the plans of the Others and Charles Widmore. The mysteries were so many that I have a difficulty to remember all of them. But at least, the show never fails to help us recall by their previews.
The island and its mysteries are actually not the biggest attributes of the show. In my opinion, the flashback, flash forward and flash sideways are the best things. The flashbacks/forwards/sideways gave us a breather on the island storyline. I would have been bored to death at some point if the show featured the island setting for 100% of the time. The flashes made us understand the characters better. Whenever the characters are put in difficult situations, their decisions normally are about their past influences and actions. These flashes also led to a richer character development. On a long TV series, it is a must.
Character Development
Kate Storyline. Several people were disappointed on how Kate’s storyline went in the final season. There was little development. However, I think it still enlightened me on how she developed into what she was up to the very end. Kate was a criminal at the start of the show because she killed her abusive stepfather. The island changed her in very many ways as her journey led her to redeem her character by being the proactive character in their adventures. When they first left the island, Kate brought Claire’s baby and took care of him. After years of taking care of Aaron, Kate returns to the island to search for Claire. Because of Kate’s horrible past (her stepfather), she tried to fix someone’s life (Aaron’s) by providing him the parent that he deserves. Kate leaving the island with Claire just showed how she values family.
Ben Storyline. Ben grew up in the island with an abusive father. I think the oppression made him crave for power. He killed his dad and ruled the Others. However, he never got to see Jacob. Ben always wanted to take care of the Island to the point that he had to do some ruthless things (that’s why he even sacrificed his daughter). But because he was clueless for most of the time, Ben eventually lost his faith on Jacob. This led Ben to kill Jacob. Up to the end, he still had conflicting decisions (which were probably the product of his harsh childhood). However, in some point of his journey, he realized the value of being a follower. This made him believe in the Island again. He finally finds his role in life by being Hurley’s #2. For a person who loved power, it was interesting how Ben eventually realizes how to be the team player in the end.
Sawyer Storyline. The con man of the Island was primarily driven by his traumatic childhood. He lived his life seeking for revenge. The Island made Sawyer a better person though as he was able to live with the other survivors. From a man who lived on his own, he began to realize the value of others. The cons and the lying might still be there but Sawyer grew from being a vengeful character to someone who was driven to do the appropriate thing. In fact, he became a leader of a part of the Dharma Initiative and was followed by several characters from then on. Sawyer actually matured a lot that he did not let his ego get in the way after his huge failure of exploding the submarine.
Locke Storyline. Who was Locke at the start? He was an ordinary guy who never had a father. He eventually meets his dad but he screwed Locke badly by throwing him out of a building. Locke became a disabled guy which hindered him from doing something productive. This made him exclaim the classic quote, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” He proved this when he was on the island. And the irony? Despite of his sad past, Locke was still a man of faith. This was probably because of his injury. It hindered him too much that he began to appreciate miracles when the Island healed him. Even up to the end, he was the guy who gave hope to all the characters.
Hurley Storyline. Other than Locke, Hurley was the most mysterious guy in the Island. He started as a lazy guy who became lucky/unlucky. His world changed after his lottery win as he had weird strokes of luck and misfortune. Hurley happens to have the strong quality of caring for people. When he was encountering misfortunes, he tried to save his parents as much as possible. And in the island, it showed. Hurley’s journey made him stronger. From the lazy, laid-back guy, Hurley’s proactive acts became very pivotal in the end. He guides Jack to find his purpose and in the end, Hurley eventually became the gatekeeper of the Island.
Jack Storyline. The finale was a treat for people on Team Jack just like me. It showed that the show was Jack-centric. Probably, the most polarizing character in the show, Jack returned to be the most crucial character at the end. From the start of the show where Jack opened his eyes in the Island to the end where he closed his eyes at the very same spot, Lost was mostly about Jack’s journey.
Jack was a very flawed character before he arrived in the Island. He was under his father’s shadow. His father did not fully believe in him. Jack had a hard time letting go and moving on (this was particularly seen in his marriage). He lost his wife because he spent too much time in the hospital. He was in so many ways like Locke but he was a man of science that’s why we had Jack not believing the mysteries of the Island at the start. Nevertheless, Jack found the Island as his place of redemption when he became the initial leader. He made logical decisions and kept most of the survivors in their place. He was probably driven by how his father once underestimated him. However, Jack lost his flair at the middle of the show. It might be because he found it hard to have faith or some of his earlier flaws were starting to resurface. By the end of Season 5. Jack appeared to be a supporting character. But, that was what made his journey sweeter. In order to be the hero, sometimes you have to be humbled. You have to understand how it is to be a follower. That’s basically how life works. When Jack took the back seat, that is when he realized the value of believing. He started to find a way to return to the Island even if little logic supported it. In Jack’s struggles, he eventually learns to understand Locke’s perspective. With a renewed sense of faith and willingness to fix his father issues, Jack pulled things together and becomes the leader of the pack again. He saves the island by believing. Kate was the person who killed the Smoke Monster but that just showed that Lost was about doing things together as a group.
Jack may have failed in the past but his journey led him to succeed in life and be the ultimate hero of the show.
Season 6 Analysis
Seventeen episodes later, I find myself happy that they used the flash sideways idea.
As I mentioned, Lost’s main characteristic is its flashback/forward/sideway style. Without it, I doubt that the show would have built its characters as they are right now. It also introduced as back to important sub-plots like Jack and his past frustrations (which led him to shatter the glass in the lighthouse). It also reinforced some of the characters’ attributes like Sawyer’s lying specialty and Jin/Sun’s love for each other.
I was actually glad on how they revealed several things in Season 6. You have the numbers explained (4-Locke 8-Reyes 15-Ford 16-Jarrah 23-Shepard 42-Kwon). The writers made us understand the mystery about Jacob, Richard and the Island. They also gave an excellent explanation on Jacob’s ideology of believing that not all people can be corrupted. I did not like some things like the Temple but overall the show made a way to explain a very good chunk of its complexities in its final season.
A lot of fans (most probably the sci-fi fans) maybe disappointed that several mysteries remain concealed. I agree that a lot of questions were left unanswered in the end but I actually loved it. The show has always been abstract and I do not know if there is any way the show can resolve all of its mysteries. Actually, what makes the show brilliant is because it always leaves room for discourse. Lost always leaves something for the viewer’s imagination.
The thing I loved the most this season is the fact that they went back to the philosophy/theology part of the show. This was more obvious at the start of the show (with Jack and Locke fighting with the science and faith thing). But, the show shifted more on the sci-fi side in the middle seasons. When they showed the Richard episode, we went back to the philosophy aspect of this show. It actually let to my favorite exchange in Lost:
Jacob: Look at this wine as what you keep calling ‘hell.’ There’s many names for it: malevolence, evil, darkness. And here it is swirling around the bottle and I won’t take it out because if it did, it would spread. Cork is this island and it is the only thing that’s keeping the darkness where it belongs. That man (Man In Black) who sent you to kill me believes that every man is corruptible because it is in their very nature to sin. I bring people here to prove him wrong. And when they get here, their past doesn’t matter
Richard: Before me, were there others?
Jacob: Yes
Richard: What happened to them?
Jacob: They’re all dead.
Richard: Why would you let it happen?
Jacob: Because I want them to help themselves – to know the difference between right and wrong without me having to tell them. It’s all meaningless if I have to force them to do anything.
Jacob’s job is an interpretation of how God believes in us (Please do note that this does not necessarily mean that Jacob is God). We all know that God (or whoever the Supreme Being is – if we want to talk about it on a universal religion perspective) does not force us to do the right thing. He just hopes that what humans do is to do the moral act. I see Richard as a representation of a prophet or a priest because he learned of this and he is the guy whose job is to guide the other people. But just like prophets and priests, Richard is flawed and he doubts. After all, just like religion, the idea of saving the island is a complete mystery. All that we know is, we need to do what is right.
Actually, I was fully on Jacob’s side after the Jacob-Richard conversation. Fake Locke was so representative of the Devil because he manipulates people by tempting them on their most wished things (i.e., Sayid meeting the love of his life; Sawyer getting out of the Island). In a way, saving the Island was a representation of doing the moral thing. With regard to what Jacob said about ‘the past doesn’t matter,’ I view it in a way that God is forgiving. Your past sins do not matter and you can redeem yourself in the present. These ideas that I have might differ with other people’s analyses but that is the beauty of the show – you can explain it in several ways.
I liked the idea of the show moving away from the science fiction perspective in the end because after all, the philosophical/theological viewpoint means more in our daily lives. Who would care if you can flash forward by surviving extreme radiations like Desmond? That doesn’t happen in real life. I see the science fiction part as more of a ploy to make the story interesting.
With the season finale, the last mysteries that they revealed reinforced some of my ideas and debunked others as well. I once had thoughts that they may actually be dead when they first crash landed on the island. I also had a purgatory theory about the Island (thanks to AXN’s raffle promo on Season 2). However, these ideas were discredited in the series finale. (Although, I won’t contradict you if you think differently. After all, the show left a lot to our imagination that these ideas could still be correct)
In the end, I made some conclusions on the show. I initially thought that the Island is not real but because the island characters were in the ending with Jack, that idea was refuted. It showed that Jack really met the Island characters in his life. Thus, the Island is real. But on a bigger scheme of things, I really think that the Island is a mere representation of one’s purpose in life or it is simply an illustration of life. Just like life, we get to meet friends and companions as Jack did in the Island. Just like life, there are very many mysteries in this world (Island) that we cannot fully unveil. There are some things that you just have to believe. Jack had his journey in the Island where he grew and matured to be its hero. In a sense, Jack was able to fulfill his life’s purpose in the end (that’s why he went to heaven). By the way, I am discussing this in a Jack-centric point of view because that was how it played out.
The one thing that I loved about Lost is because it is multi-dimensional – it has aspects of drama, politics, philosophy, action, comedy and a simple slice of life. And, that’s how life goes. But in a Jack-centric perspective, the island is his main purpose in life. During the times he was away from the island, Jack felt emptiness and depression. It was because he was moving away from his life’s purpose.
Note: I am not stating that their lives prior to the island do not represent life. Of course, those also represent life. But the Island is more about representing the most important part of Jack’s life.
In the end, the show is about a celebration of life with your closed ones. That is why Christian said, “this is a place that you all made together so that you can find one another. The most important part of your life was when you spent your time with these people. That is why all of you are here. Nobody dies alone. You needed all of them and they needed you.” After all, we connect with people in this life. (No pun intended but) no man is an island.
Some
Why does Jack have a son in purgatory even if he never had a son in real life?
To be honest, it beats me. It was a huge question mark after I watched the show. But I also realized that it’s Jack’s purgatory – it does not necessarily need to reflect what happened to him in real life. He never married Juliet in real life. I think the son has more to do of Jack’s wish to have a son that never materialized. Jack just had too many father issues that he wanted to have a son to be a father to.
Why is Shannon Sayid’s love in the final scene?
The other actress was on vacation? Just kidding. I think it has more to do with the fact that it was Jack’s Purgatory. Jack did not get to meet Sayid’s true love in real life, right? So for Jack, Sayid’s real love was Shannon. This actually reinforced the idea that the final scene was depicting Jack’s Purgatory more than the Purgatory of the rest of the survivors.
What happened to them after they left the Island? What did Hurley do as the gatekeeper?
To be honest, it doesn’t matter. The show is more about the celebration of life with others (particularly Jack’s life) than of the Island and its mysteries. They just lived their normal lives after they left the island. In the end, they eventually just died as people do.
And that pretty much wraps up the show for me. Lost – the TV show that started all my TV show addiction – happens to be the first and only TV series that I watched from the start to the end. Actually, it could have been Prison Break or Heroes (if that already had its final episode) but I quitted watching those shows at some point. Some things happen for a reason and it was just fitting that Lost is the first TV series that I finished. After all, it is the best TV series ever in my books.
All good things have to end, and some good things also end in a good way.
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