A Message For Confused Lost Viewers
If you didn't get it, then you really did waste six years of your life, and I pity you.
Two days after the most astonishingly bold television show came to its moving conclusion, Lost retains its power of being talked about endlessly.
Unluckily for 24 producers, I had barely noticed that the once-great real-time drama had come to its end. How could they even dare to use the word finale, as the trials of Jack Bauer only ended because everybody got bored of rehashed storylines, and they're going out with a planned feature film anyway.
No, the very definition of finale was the elegant, haunting two hours of Lost that were broadcast on ABC Sunday night. Creative honchos Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse took J.J. Abrams' concept and carried it over six seasons that pushed casual viewers to their limits, but for anyone who lived and breathed Lost as much as the writers, witnessed television that transcended its medium.
For the survivors of Oceanic flight 815, the island was the most important thing to have happened in all of their disparate lives. It may have brought misery, pain and death like no other, but when we reached the end of the single story's arc, we realised it, and most importantly, we felt it.
To those who stared blankly at the screen when the deceased Christian Shephard spoke to his son Jack may have missed the point as they were waiting for something to blow up. A reminder: "Everyone dies, some before you, some long after you... There is no 'now' here... The most important time of your life was the time you spent with these people". The island was real. The crash was real. Everything they went through was real. But the sideways universe we assumed to be parallel when Juliet detonated the bomb wasn't. There was no alternate life, just limbo. Please visit Jezebel's extraordinarily perceptive recap, which draws our attention to the Tibetan Buddhist concept of 'bardos'. A sample quote for those who, like Jack and co., are struggling to see reality: "It's a dream-like reality, created by the "awareness" (or a soul) that is freed from the body upon death. Because of the disconnect of the awareness from the physical body, the deceased doesn't immediately realize that he or she is dead. In the different bardo phases, the "awareness" needs guidance—from different deities, or, you know, guides (hello, Desmond)—to attain enlightenment, i.e., realize that they're dead. A karmic mirror (remember all those mirrors?) is held up to the deceased so that s/he can reflect and eventually recognize. Once this happens—and it can happen in any of the bardo phases, depending on how much emotional baggage a person has packed for the afterlife—the deceased achieves Nirvana, and can "move on." Depending on your belief system, this can be heaven, reincarnation, or some kind of simulated reality, like Eloise Hawking for herself and her son. The final scenes in last night's episode showed Jack's first and final bardo phases, occurring simultaneously. (Because time is no longer relative.)" For example, think back to Kate, post-realisation, as she tells Jack she's missed him so much. She flew away on that Ajira plane, held together by duct tape, and probably lived a long and happy life. However, her "heaven" was with Jack. And it didn't matter when she died, as there is no concept of time in that place.
While Lost's marketing to viewers about impending answers will come back to bite them, I realised as I was coming to the end that I had no questions. What did I need to find out? What did I want to know so ardently? Well, the only thing I wanted was for our Losties' journey to come to an end and for them to find peace. And I got that in a way I could never have imagined. For Lost was solely about one period of time on this extraordinary island, and it wasn't there to document its entire history - it was about our characters. We did get answers, some detailed, some for us to apply our own logic and knowledge to piece together - if you need to nitpick on a grander scale, then you must find life in our own mysterious universe a bloody challenge.
What did I take from Lost? The age-old adage - the only thing that matters in the world are the people we care about. Lost was a journey of redemption, atonement, healing and rebirth. The Dharma initiative, the numbers, the smoke monster - fascinating catalysts for our heroes' dramas, giving way to some of the most imaginitive scenarios witnessed onscreen since the good old days of The X-Files. But not what made Lost what it was. We walked the shoes of murderers, torturers, drug addicts, the emotionally inept, the selfish, the cruel, and we empathised and we fell in love. We took that journey with them, and that journey came to an end Sunday night in a manner that would make Steven Spielberg and Frank Capra weep with envy.
I will leave the final word to ScreenGeek chum David Bedwell, who was able to put the message to the "wasted six years" brigade bluntly while I was still in shock.
"I've been reading many people moaning about the Lost finale today. I'm glad I missed it all before I watched it because quite frankly it would have ruined it.
Let me state this categorically - the finale was one of the most perfect pieces of television I have ever seen. The entire crew could not have done a better job. It was the ending that the characters, the crew, and the loyal fans deserved.
The way some people are talking, they wanted a 2 1/2 hour sit-down interview with JJ Abrams in which he simply stated all the facts about the show. Fuck that.
"So the numbers?"
"Why did Smokey do this?"
"Where's Walt?"
What makes for better television? Explaining in depth how the numbers work, and how the electromagnetic science stuff works? Or Matthew Fox giving a heart wrenching performance as he ends the show just how it began? How about all the reunions? See you in another life brotha? ANY of the entire finale in fact?!
Those who wanted answers simply did not understand the show. Yes, it wasn't the same show that it was in season one. Get over it. It got BETTER. There's only so long you can dangle random mysteries about. Give me a show with emotional depth and characters I care about over some bullshit.
They were right when they said it was about the characters. When I think back to Lost, I won't be thinking "oh I miss the time when I wondered what was down the hatch!" .. I'll be thinking how much I miss following some of the best written and developed characters I've ever seen in any series. I'll be thinking how much I miss some of the best music ever put to a fictional piece. And I'll be thinking how much I miss the journey I took with my friends.
Over analysing is not something I'll miss.
After all, if we've learnt anything - we need to learn to let go. Of course, I did that around season 3 and I've been on one hell of a ride since. It's just a shame so many other fans didn't manage to do the same.
To all of you who loved as I did - thank you. To those that didn't... I feel sorry for you. You missed out on something truly special."
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