The End
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 05:20pm by Maggie
I’ve been sitting here for over an hour, wondering how and where to start this recap, but I have no idea. So, I’ll just say how awesome I thought it was that Hurley had Boone attack Shannon so that Sayid would save her and remember. It was a nice way to get Boone back into the story.
I think I’m going to start at the end. Once Desmond’s work was done and everyone remembered their lives and who they were to each other, they all congregated at the church where Christian’s funeral would be. Jack was the last one to remember, which he did by touching his father’s coffin. He then opened the coffin to find that his father wasn’t in it, but standing behind him. At this point, Christian explained to Jack that they were together because Jack was dead, and so was everyone else in the (multi-denominational) church. Christian explained that some died before him and some died well after him.
Up until this point I was thinking that maybe some of the things I’d read were correct, and perhaps the island WAS the Holy Grail. And maybe it is, but after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that the island and everything that occurred there was real, the alterna-sideways-verse was purgatory, and our Lost souls just needed to be reminded that it was time to go home to their gods, together, led by their christian shepherd.
On the island, Jack and Locke watched Desmond descend into the cavern toward the source of the light. Desmond saw that the light was coming from a hole in the middle of a pool of water, blocked by a huge wedge of stone. Desmond removed the stone and the light went out, harming Desmond but not killing him. This caused the island to start heaving and shearing into the ocean. It also caused both Jack and NotLocke to become mortal and able to kill each other. Which they did, but NotLocke died first.
Jack sent everyone to go find the plane that Lapidus, Miles and Richard repaired. Richard got his first grey hair, realized he was mortal and decided that he DID want to live out the rest of his life. Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Richard and Lapidus safely made it off the island, where presumably Kate would help Claire care for Aaron.
Hurley and Ben stayed behind. Jack insisted he go down into the cavern and try to reverse what Desmond had done, now that the MIB was dead and gone. He knew he wouldn’t survive this, so he made Hurley the island’s guardian. Once in the cavern, Jack found Desmond and tied him to the rope. He then put the giant stone back into its place in the centre of the pool and the light returned. Hurley and Ben, who assumed Desmond was dead, thought they were pulling Jack back up. When he realized what had happened, Hurley asked Ben to help him keep the island safe, which Ben was honoured to do. Ben then suggested that Desmond leave the island and return to his family. Hurley pointed out that people couldn’t leave the island and Ben told him that just because that’s how Jacob ran things, doesn’t mean that’s how Hurley had to run them. Presumably Desmond eventually makes it home to Penny and his son.
I loved the episode. I don’t know how I feel necessarily about their choices for how the story played out, but I really enjoyed the finale as it stood. I loved watching the last of the group make their purgatorial connections to each other, and I liked the way they all moved on to the next stage of existence with each other.
1. Rain said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 6:19 pm )
I like your interpretation very much. I’ve read some reviews saying they were dead all along, when that is so obviously not the case judging from what Christian says about some dying before Jack, and some long after. Like, duh. I think that interpretation comes solely from the images of the plane wreckage during the end credits. I don’t agree that showing that means they all died then, but what DOES it mean?….
2. Maggie said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 6:28 pm )
Thanks! I think what they were trying to do at the end was bring the show around full circle and mirror the beginning with the end. Jack came to (was reborn) from the plane crash in the same spot he died. As for why, I’m guessing it’s just to further remind us how everything started and how much has happened, and why Jack feels accomplished, valid and right with himself.
3. freakgirl said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 7:24 pm )
When the dog came and sat with Jack so he would not die alone…WEEPING!
4. Dave Hughes said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 7:29 pm )
I only ever watched one episode of Lost, and think it’s probably innapropriate to put my thoughts here. That being said, I just thought it would be funny to post a reply on your blog, because I’m a douche.
5. Bianca said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 8:02 pm )
Great recap Maggie. I personally loved the episode. I thought it was beautiful and satisfying. And yea, Vincent laying down by Jack really put me over the edge.
6. Soosan said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 9:43 pm )
Vincent, such a loyal doggy.
Good recap Maggie. Not an easy task to cover this show!
I was satisified with the finale… I think my mixed emotions are… “now what?”. How will I fill the void?
I completely forgot all about the Sayid and Shannon love saga, probably because of the Nadia storyline.
7. Mel said ( Monday, May 24, 2010 at 11:04 pm )
It’s funny… Vincent laying with Jack was probably about the one time I didn’t cry last night. I pretty much cried every time someone “remembered” and some way more than others (Sawyer & Juliet for instance). Between this and the Grey’s Anatomy finale, I’ve shed enough tears this weekend to last me a year.
I was a big fan of the finale. I thought it all made perfect sense. I also read a lot of discussion/reviews that said they all were clearly dead the whole time or that the Island really was purgatory and, while everyone is allowed to think what they want to think, that’s not what I saw at all. I got the exact same interpretation that Maggie did.
8. Sara said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 7:36 am )
Great recap! I’ve been patiently waiting for this because I knew it would help me wrap my head around what happened so much more.
9. sandra said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 11:45 am )
There were things I really liked about the finale, such as of course, Jack dying with Vincent by his side (so sweetly done) and Not-Locke and Jack peering down the hole, both visually recalling key past episodes, but I am still feeling let down as for as the series on whole. I know, I know… but so many promising storylines fizzled out and were never really spoken about again (hello Walt!, the island infertility, the smoke monster being more of a manifestation of past personal regrets rather than a pissed off dude … do you remember Mr. Eko’s face-to-face with it way back when? now that was cool). I’m still trying to understand why Desmond was touted as being such an important figure in his return to the island, other than pulling the stone from the hole and thereby giving Jack the opportunity to kill Not-Locke. Was that it? What am I missing here, because in the end, wasn’t it all thanks to Jack? I did feel moved by some of the characters remembering and/or reuniting, particularly Sawyer and Juliet, but it seemed pretty easy to remember towards the end (they just had to touch in comparison to Desmond running over John to get him to remember – that’s intense!!). I am sad over the fact that a good chunk of this season was devoted to walking to and from the beach to the Temple … and then back again, and I don’t have any real clue as to why. How much of that storyline and characters really made any impact on the picture on whole? A couple of annoying problems I had with the episode are things like, how did Ben get out from under the tree? Why was Lapidus just kinda floating around in the ocean instead of trying to paddle over to the island which was in plain view (it had been at least a day or two since the sub exploded and he didn’t look too hurt in later scenes, even managing to successfully fly a plane … maybe he just assumed someone would come by on a boat?) other than the writers throwing in a surprise, he’s not dead!! moment. I feel all that time could have been better spent. Granted, I am not a writer and don’t pretend I could write a TV show, but these guys ARE writers and have written good seasons in the past, including last year’s Season 5 … I just wish they went out with that same level of quality.
I continued to watch this show this season despite feeling the quality just wasn’t there anymore because I’ve invested all these years getting to know the characters and I wasn’t going to just give up now. If I’m really enjoying a good book but then the last chapter starts to suck, I’m not going to put it down; I’m going to finish it because I want to know what happens, despite it all. I did enjoy this show for many years and I liked a lot of those characters and it opened up doors for me to theories and ideas I’d never really knew much about before, so for that I am appreciative. I’m not at all feeling that this last season ruined the whole show for me, I just am a little bummed that it didn’t end on a high note for me. Not only were many key questions not answered, but several other questions were raised.
No matter what, I will miss looking forward to the next Lost episode. The End.
10. bucktowngirl said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 11:49 am )
Maggie, wonderful recap. I’ve been having such a hard time with the reviewers and people claiming they were dead all along. It was clearly stated by Christian that that wasn’t the case.
I was a sobbing baby through the majority of this episode. Charlie & Claire killed me, as did Vincent laying next to Jack. I thought it was beautifully done and I felt satisfied at the end of the episode.
I may sound like a complete loser here, but I’ve spent six years watching and debating and sharing my thoughts on this show and now….although it ended beautifully, I feel like there’s a void, like Soosan said.
On a side, it’s been great reading this blog and reading everyone’s thoughts and theories on Lost. I didn’t share much, but I always looked forward to reading the recaps every week. Thanks!!!
11. sandra said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 12:12 pm )
OMG – sorry, didn’t realize it was that long!
12. Laura said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 1:12 pm )
I was disappointed in the final episode. Sandra put a lot of the things that bothered me. I just never got on the edge of my seat. Since Jacob was gone, I’m guessing that is how the plane was able to leave the island. And when they left, where did they go/land? How did they explain the existence of Richard, the 600 year old man? I was glad Frank was alive but it was strange that the others who had injuries were able to find their way to the beach and Frank was just hanging out in life preservers. I knew Richard was still alive because he was immortal and even Fake Locke couldn’t kill him. Why did they show the island underwater at the beginning of the season? If it was purgatory, the island being underwater made no sense. And, Jack’s neck wound kept getting worse towards the end of his purgatory based on how his character died fighting with Fake Locke. Didn’t get why they did that since Jack clearly died before others. Oh well, I did love the series but didn’t like the final episodes. Can’t please everyone.
13. Maggie said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 2:48 pm )
DAVE! My favourite douche!
Coments can be long…it’s allowed! Sandra, I don’t disagree with you on any of that stuff. There have definitely been discrepancies and they let some great storylines go. After the show, Jeremy and I discussed how too much of this season was spent just trying to stretch the hour instead of making good use of the time to finish some stories. I wouldn’t say this was my favourite season, not by a long chalk, but it was hella better than the Paulo/Nikki season. They spaced out the purgatory storyline quite well, while the island story could have been so much more. It certainly seemed that the smoke monster was originally meant to be much more than an ancient being wanting to get off the island.
In the end, I’ll say this: Mainstream network television will probably always be disappointing in this way. The ultimate goal is to make money, not to tell stories. When the goal seems to be to tell stories, the shows end up cancelled (Arrested Development, anything by Joss Whedon). Heroes, for example. It started out so fantastic, but instead of focusing their $$ and talent on good production and storytelling, they chose to go a more sensational route and instead of story, we got a lot of advertising, interviews, red carpet events HOSTED by Heroes stars, ad nauseum.
I loved the finale as it stood. I’m happy with and enjoyed what I watched. But I think it would have been a particularly excellent series finale if they had been telling more story from the beginning of the season, so that people weren’t expecting anything more than closure, which is really what it was about. Closure for the audience, and closure for the characters. Not really answers, but closure.
14. Maggie said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 3:01 pm )
Laura, I’m curious why you feel that Jack’s death being well after some of the others has anything to do with the kind of clues he was receiving in purgatory. After life, time has no relevance according to Christian. In my opinion, details like what happens when they get home or how Richard is going to obtain identification documents are incidental and have no bearing on this story. Don’t forget that Richard has been travelling to and from the island whenever it was necessary, so it’s not like he’s never been to Modern USA.
As for why Frank was in the ocean, maybe he was passed out. Jin was in the ocean for a long time, too, after the freighter exploded. He was unconscious. And the others managed to find each other and make it to the shore together. I don’t know…I didn’t care about things like that.
15. bucktowngirl said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 5:09 pm )
This is a pretty good read, for anyone with questions
http://lostmediamentions.blogs.....inale.html
16. Jack said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 5:35 pm )
I liked the episode as an episode. As a series finale, I’m not sure. I would have liked more answers, yes, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting them. So I wasn’t let down. Maybe just a little frustrated by what wasn’t tied up neatly in the end. But on the whole, I liked the episode and the series.
I haven’t read much online about it, so I’m surprised to hear that some people still think the island is purgatory. That seems like a big misinterpretation.
I also thought it was a little interesting who was – and wasn’t – in the church at the end. Michael and Walt were missing, I think Farraday and Charlotte too. Were Miles and Lapidus there? Penny was there (despite never being on the island), and I find it hard to buy Shannon – who knew Sayid for only a few weeks – being his date into the afterlife instead of Nadya. I was sad that Vincent wasn’t in the church. I’ve always said that if heaven doesn’t allow dogs, I have no interest in going.
17. yahtzee said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 9:24 pm )
I’d stay away from Bucktowngirl’s link – tried to take over my browser.
18. bucktowngirl said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 9:32 pm )
Sorry yahtzee. Came up fine on mine at the off and at home.
19. bucktowngirl said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 9:33 pm )
that should be “office”
20. freakgirl said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 10:10 pm )
Michael’s soul was trapped on the island, right? Which is why I assumed he wasn’t in the church. But why not Walt?
Also, my assumption was that Desmond was so important because he was the only one who could pull out the big rock (or, as Tracie from Jezebel called it, the giant butt plug) without dying. Because he was immune to the massive doses of electromagnetic energy from living in the hatch for so long.
I’m just trying not to think too hard about it
21. Jeremy said ( Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 11:56 pm )
Jack – Sayid and Shannon have a love that will echo through the ages!!
Nadya brought nothing but pain to the poor man.
22. Jay said ( Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 1:49 pm )
Jeremy – I know the feeling. Those young actors playing Child Jacob and Child Man in Black brought me nothing but pain. They should never work again, and their parents should be fined by the actor’s guild. Maybe even have Paris Hilton collect the money as an extra “up yours”.
23. Jay said ( Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 1:55 pm )
I joke, i joke…