#LOST: The End

The following is a recap of the LOST series finale, entitled "The End." Elements of this article carry spoilers for the entire series. DO NOT READ if you intend on watching any of LOST, or if you have yet to finish the show.

So. That happened.

After all this time. All this fighting. All the flashbacks to horribly boring lives. It turned out to be all... connected.

During the first season, the flashbacks showed us who the show's characters were before they crash-landed on the island, and why they were in Australia. For seasons two and three, the flashbacks delved more into how miserable all of their lives were. One just assumed this was their narrative gimmick, and there was not a whole lot else to show for it. Once the narrative got shaken up for season four, the flashbacks' importance was never questioned again.

Until now.

Following Jacob's recent revelation that the reason why "the candidates" were summoned to Craphole Island was because their lives were so miserable beforehand, it would seem that the characters needed to do more to redeem themselves of a wasted life than what the island gave them.

To course-correct this, a new life was set in motion. A "sideways" look at how our character's lives may have been. If they had someone to love. If their jobs were better. If they were respected. Yet, there was still something missing from all of our character's lives. For many, it was their one true love. For others, such as Locke, they had already found true love, and needed to overcome another obstacle (physical disability) in order to move on in life.

Move on in life. What does that mean? For this show, it's about forgiveness. About letting go. About using what has happened to shape your future. Letting go is also depending upon other people. In a contemporary society where individualism is still rampant, LOST taught us to depend upon a community, a family, to get through life.

Life lived alone is worthless. Life without purpose is worthless. The show perhaps hinted at this as early as season two, where it gave us a episode showing how madly in love Rose and Bernard are, how dependent they are upon each other... and not much else other than that. They found what they were looking for. They are complete. They didn't need candidacy, an island, the Orchid station, DHARMA, or anything else. They had love. Love was all they needed.

Love was all anybody needed. Did you see how many happy couples there were at the Saint Eloise of the Lamp Post church? They learned to let go and be happy for one another. Jack learned to let go of his dad and anger issues he had towards him. Locke learned to let go of the wheelchair and be happy in everything. Everyone found their something.

With their profound happiness, they were able to move on to the great beyond. The afterlife. Purgatory was done. Their sins had been atoned for. Their lives reached their peak potential. They found each others constants. With no baggage weighing them down, they could pass to the next life.

But, the biggest shock of the entire season was, the Sideways plot didn't occur immediately after the bomb went off. In fact, it exists apart from time and space. Everyone was there, yet, in the 'real world,' they had all died at different times in different places. They all seemed to have some knowledge of their deaths, of what transpired, and yet were immensely happy at their lives. Happy for what they had become, for the different choices they had made.

Do we know exactly where and how the Sideways plot was generated? No, not exactly. We don't need to, either. Maybe the bomb did work, and it helped to create it. Maybe it didn't. What it did, though, was give us tremendous closure for our characters. We have seen them at their lowest, we now have seen them at their happiest. After spending many miserable months and years together, the main characters at some point decided they would share their happiness with one another before passing on.

BEFORE THE ISLAND... the characters lived separate lives.
ON THE ISLAND... they tried to work together, but, with mixed success.
AFTER THE ISLAND... they went back (mainly) to separate lives... and were miserable again.
BACK ON THE ISLAND... they realized that perhaps there was something else living for beyond themselves. They had to live for each other, for a greater good.
IN THE AFTERLIFE... they were able to correct all the wrongs that had come before. By getting their memories back in the end, they could see how far they have come, and see that with true love, there is nothing else on the planet more worthwhile. 

When Christian Shepherd opened the doors, and the bright light engulfed everyone, their stories ended. The only thing that awaited them was the afterlife. Everyone in the church was ready for it. They found their purpose. They found their love. They turned their lives around. Now they were ready for the end.

Except for Benjamin Linus. Having hurt a lot of people, Ben felt he needed plenty of forgiveness before moving to the great white beyond. Although, having Locke's forgiveness and Hurley's friendship, seemed to be of tremendous aid and support for him on his new quest. A quest of apologizing and atoning. Perhaps even doing some "witnessing" as Desmond had done to the characters who weren't in the finale, such as Nikki, Paulo, Eko, Frogurt, and so forth.

The great thing about the finale is, it helps paint the entire series in a different light than before, but, by no means diminishes what it once was. I can still re-watch key episodes from early seasons and enjoy them as is, even knowing how they fit into the endgame. Yet, for the fans who have watched every episode at least once (...), seeing the final piece of the puzzle helps to put the entire series into perspective.

It wasn't about figuring out a magic box. (Which, could easily be a long con deception by Ben... with Mikhail surveillance everyone, they could have gotten John Cooper easily, knowing that Locke would want to show up sooner or later.)

It wasn't about polar bears... which was answered in season three, guys... seriously. DHARMA observed different animals on the island, studying how they related to it's unique properties. DHARMA got purged, animals remained. Bears kept in cool, dark caves to stay alive.

It wasn't about the history of the island, and all it's previous inhabitants. People are drawn to the island, and different people need to protect it. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Los Angelinos... anyone and everyone seemed to leave their mark on the island throughout the course of time.

It was about the characters. Learning to live together. It is that simple. It was repeatedly frequently on the show. Yet, it took until the last episode of the series to finally realize it in it's simplest, purest form.

There are many mysteries that would have been nice to get an answer to (Why Walt, Hurley and Miles are special). However? I can live without these answers. What we saw, was fulfilling and satisfying. Even weird plots, like the Sayid infection, were indirectly addressed in the sideways plot, when Hurley tells Sayid that he doesn't have to be whoever anyone tells him to be. If you are told you are evil, does that mean you ARE evil? Sayid this season seemed to struggle with that intensely. In the end, he was a "good person" by sacrificing himself for his friends. In that way, Sayid's weird infection plotline hinted at problems with self-identification, and how we see ourselves based completely on how others view us.

Speaking of viewing ourselves... I loved that in every sideways episode this season, a character looked into a mirror, but the most prominent mirror scene tonight was a broken mirror -- signaling the end of the sideways narrative.

I'm suspecting that my thoughts are becoming less cohesive as I keep typing, so, I'll end it around here for now. The more I think about the ending, and the ultimate purpose of the sideways narrative... the more I am okay with it. I expected universes to collide with each other (which I know from FRINGE is a horrible idea!), but instead, the universes complimented each other and barely crossed over.

And Desmond and Penny may get a happy ending after all. Aw, yay!

Now, if you'll excuse me, it is late. Time to close my eyes...