LOST: The End

LOST is over. How do we feel? I am satisfied, but sad. I'm not sure I'll completely realize it's over until next January, when in the depths of a cold Minnesota winter, I'll turn on the TV only to realize... all there is to watch is American Idol? Really?

I'll summarize (as briefly as I can) and then theorize later.

On the island: Desmond is seemingly rescued by Rose and Bernard. They "break their rule" (again, with the rules!) and help him out. Jack, Ben, Hurley and Desmond head to "the source" with the Jacob followers so Des can expose himself to that electromagnetic energy and do whatever it is he has to do to, you know, save mankind. He uncorks what's down there, seemingly dies, and all goes dark.

Jack goes after Flocke atop Jacob's cave - a Clint Eastwood showdown if I ever saw one - after Flocke seems to go mortal. Jack gets stabbed, both in the appendix (am I right?) and his neck, which explains why his wound "bleeds" through to the Sideways world all season. Flocke meets his maker, however, after Kate plugs him with a bullet and Jack kicks him off the cliff. Remind me, how many death scenes has Terry O'Quinn done now? He should start a series of Weekend at Locke's movies.

But I digress... Miles, Richard and Lapidus (yes, the latter two are alive!) get the Ajira plane ready for takeoff with a little help from duct tape. Kate and Sawyer (and later, Claire) are summoned to join them, so Kate and Jack have one final goodbye kiss. And, boy, what a kiss. What a moment.

Jack returns to the source, anoints Hurley his successor ("Please enjoy the Eucharist of muddy water in a bottle!") and heads down the waterfall, or whatever it is, and saves Desmond. Ben, so vulnerable by this point, is appointed Hurley's #2. The look on his face when Hurley offers it is priceless.

Jack puts the cork back in, and his job is done. More on his fate in a minute.

In the Sideways world: characters finally have their epiphanies and remember their Island lives. Locke sees his after Jack successfully performs surgery on him. Juliet (David's mother! Yes!) and Sawyer have theirs after handing off an Apollo bar (how fitting). Sun and Jin remember their past lives as Juliet performs their ultrasound. Sayid makes his connection when he encounters Shannon in an alley. Kate and Claire (and later, Charlie) have their flashes as Claire gives birth to Aaron after the concert. And Jack?

In what may be the most poignant images of the series, Jack connects with an empty coffin. He represses his visions after encounters with Kate, but is finally faced dead-on when he enters a church (home of the Dharma station) where Kate tells him they will all "leave." His dad's coffin finally brings back his Island memories. And they pack a wallop.

Then he hears Christian's voice. "But you died," Jack says. Soon he realizes he has died too. This isn't a "we've all been dead the whole time" scenario, Christian implies. This was all simply a means for the Losties - the most important people in each other's lives - to meet again, to "move on."

When Jack enters that church, it's like combination of entering the gates of heaven and sauntering into your high school reunion. There stand all the castaways (well, most of them), hugging each other, reuniting, embracing the substance of their lives, ready to move on. Jack gets it immediately. He hugs a few of them and finds Kate, who has been waiting for him. Christian pats him on the shoulder and opens the doors to reveal a blinding light, a new kind of source.

We flash back and forth between this moment and Jack's death on the island. After the job at the source is done, Jack, bleeding, stumbles through those familiar bamboo plants (even passing Christian's shoe) and rests in the very spot this all started. He smiles as the Ajira plane flies over, hears a familiar bark, and is joined by Vincent, who lies down next to him. The eye closes. Fade out.

My take: Okay, so mythology lovers were probably disappointed by this finale. What answers did we get? Well, not many. We know that the island survives, and doesn't sink after all. We know who takes it over and protects it. But did we get satisfying conclusions regarding the Island's infertility, Walt's "special" qualities, Libby's apparent insanity, Hurley's strange talking bird, or even that big question - what the hell is this island? No, not really.

I give credit to the writers, show runners Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse, and the talented director, Jack Bender, that after watching this finale, I didn't really care that I'd been denied those answers. And I think they were denied for a reason. I think they were saying this show was loved because of the characters, because of the people. And no one can deny this was an intensely satisfying finale, emotionally. And why not have more to debate?

Okay, okay: I know there's frustration out there, and I totally get it. Some people probably feel let down. Questions were raised, and they weren't answered. That's not particularly cool. But I don't really feel that way. Here's why: this was a beautifully crafted episode. It was a beautifully filmed anything.

The flashes when characters realized what was happening - that they had already died and had experienced a whole 'nother life on the Island - were perfect. The actors' reactions were just right. They were emotional, not too sappy, and honest. They lived up to the material. Who wouldn't be moved by Juliet and Sawyer's reunion, or Charlie and Claire's?

What moved me the most was that this finale proved to be about needing people. Needing each other. The Sideways flash was, in fact, a world created so that these people could find each other and someday reunite when they died. Some people would call that purgatory. I don't know if I'd call it that, but I'd say it's an afterlife of sorts.

Is that a cop-out, when the creators had said this series was not about purgatory? I don't think so. What happened on the island, happened. What's done is done. That was all real. When Jin and Sun drowned on the sub, they really died. When Jack really died at the end, he died. And I think, to an extent, the Sideways world was "real" too. It was, as some people have said, a "soul cluster." It was a gathering of souls to "move on" - to re-visit the people they needed in the most difficult and crucial time of their lives. Kate and Sawyer may have each lived to be 90 years old, but that doesn't mean these people weren't the most crucial in their long lives. We don't necessarily know the characters' extended stories. We just know they're reuniting to move on after meeting again.

I think, for a show frequently depicting gunshot deaths and slit throats, that's a very hopeful outcome that says a lot about humanity. We don't want to "do it alone," as Christian says. We need people. That's what this series was about: helping each other out. Relying on others when they felt the most alone. Seeking approval after living a flawed life. It's all there.

Tidbits/lingering questions:

-Interesting that Ben won't go into the church. Like Ana Lucia (and presumably, unseen characters, like Mr. Eko) he just wasn't ready for that sort of redemption.

-What would Claire's life be like when returning to the "real" world off-Island? If she was indeed "infected" like Sayid, would she revert to her "normal" self, sans squirrel wig? Does that mean she never really "died" in the first place?

-I wonder how it was decided who would end up in the church at the end. Clearly it's not just plane crash survivors, because Penny and Juliet are there. Aaron has reverted back to a baby. But many people are absent, including the freighter folk. Miles, Charlotte, Daniel and Lapidus are missing.

-I was expecting Walt to show up. But it makes sense that he doesn't since Michael doesn't, who, as explained, is stuck on the island, in his own sort of purgatory. Also missing from this episode? Ilana. Now what was her deal?

-Mrs. Hawking mentions that she doesn't want to let Daniel go, to let him move on. This begs the question: who are the secondary people in the Sideways World? Do they exist? Locke mentions that Jack doesn't have a son (David). But I feel that, somehow, these characters are real, too.

There's a lot left unsaid, a lot to answer. Writing about this show is difficult, because it's hard to describe, even emotionally. Just know that is has been a rewarding experience to watch and to re-visit, and I hope LOST will be remembered for the debate it sparred, for the curiosity, for the inspiration.

The finale: A