If you don’t watch LOST and are not planning to, well you may continue to read. But if you do and haven’t watched the finale yet, you should close this page NOW!
Anyway, I watched the final episode of the series last night and my reaction was—WHAT THE HELL?! It didn’t make sense (particularly the events that occurred in the flash-sideways timeline). I was so frustrated and confused of the thought that the series that thrived on giving questions would end with a very big one. And so I browsed the net for an explanation and there it was as clear as day—I watched the whole season wrong. I didn’t think such a thing was possible.
It turned out, my interpretation of the flash-sideways was wrong. I thought the explosion in the final episode of season 5 (thank you Juliet. May you rest in peace) not only brought everybody to the present but also made an alternate parallel universe wherein the plane didn’t crash on the island and everybody got to live happily ever after. I assumed that was the case because of the term flash-sideways, which was very misleading I think. It even made me miss crucial literary figuratives to understand the episode. I thought the original timeline and sideways timeline were occurring at the same time. But they’re not. In fact, the sideways phenomenon was not caused by the bomb. It was a purgatory universe or limbo where they stayed to deal with their unfinished businesses. So in short, they all died. Surprise! Surprise!
And so with this crucial knowledge, I watched it again and finally, it made complete sense. It was like watching it for the first time. I almost cried on the scene when Jack was dying and Vincent, the Dog stayed with him. T_T. I got emotional when Jack finally got reconciled with his father. In those moments, it made me feel like death isn’t a bad thing; that beyond the pain, a great thing awaits all of us. It was a great ending. It perfectly went with the series’ theme of redemption and forgiveness.
I think LOST will go down as one of the greatest series in the history of television and it will take time before something could at least match the brilliance of the story. It’s very intricate and very well thought of—the dynamics of the characters, the mythology, the mysteries, the questions, and the answers. LOST is like a big puzzle. You will be given pieces of events from different timeframes: from present to flashbacks, from flash-forwards to flash-sideways, and it’s very intellectually stimulating and thrilling to put them together to finally reveal the whole picture. But then again, it’s not the answers that make it very engaging. It’s the anticipation of them. Some answers will not be satisfying to everyone (especially to hardcore fans). Some are demystifying but just because the buildup of the enigmas and mythos was excellent. There are still partially-unsolved mysteries and questions left unanswered, but I think that’s okay as long as they aren’t detrimental to the core of the story. But like solving puzzles, it takes patience to finish this series. I am not surprised that some people give up watching (or not at all) because it serves tons of mind-boggling questions and answers come in trickles, not to mention the non-linear course of events (like Memento but way more complicated). A magazine even called it The Worst Series Ever. I guess it takes an open mind to appreciate it. I mean it’s hard to love what you already hate. As for me, I started to love it the moment that polar appeared in the middle of that tropical jungle.
I’m definitely watching this again!
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