AlexdeParis said:

Wow! The God in you salutes the God in... Lost? I really gotta check this show out.

...I've only seen 1 or 2 episodes its entire run, but I get the impression there'll still be a ton of questions left unanswered. Do you think viewers will be satisfied still having to debate what the show was all about? I think that adds a certain immortality to the mythology, but were I a fan, I think I'd want closure after all these years.

It'll be interesting to see the reaction.

Lammastide said:

I want (and think we'll get) both. There are some questions that need to be answered, but I think the show should always be surrounded by a shroud of mystery -- that's one of the main reasons why I love it! As you can guess, some other hardcore fans disagree.

Um...ok.

So... after the wrap-up, am I understanding correctly that this is what everyone guessed years ago?
[Edited 5/23/10 20:40pm]

Lammastide said:

Pretty much-ish.

So....they basically recycled the final scene from Titanic.

I want to write my theory but don't want to spoil anything for the west coast...

Lammastide said:

With the added touch of ...."yes but later." Everything still happened. The sideways thing wasn't what we all thought it was.

I liked it....the writers copped out though. Should have cut a lot of the island stuff out and ended it earlier....or taken time to finish all the sub-plots and ended it later.

Lammastide said:

Not really. Elements were similar, but not at all the same. A lot of us guessed the final scene, but it was phenomenal nonetheless. Loved it! A fitting end to a phenomenal show!

I got up at 5am this morning (live with the US West Coast I think) to watch it here in the UK. I've watched every episode and enjoyed the twists and turns, the character development and drama. I've always regarded it as science fiction so was not really expecting a "eureka" moment in the finale where I thought it all made sense.

I found it emotional and satisfying as an ending but obviously it still leaves a lot of questions in my mind. Without giving anythign away to those who have not seen it yet. I sort of need to know when? (from what point on...?). I guess Jack was always the main character so it should have been all about him.

RodeoSchro said:

You're going to have to start from the beginning!!!! It's so worth it!

Ottensen said:

LOL, not gonna happen (just don't have the time), but I'll take your word that this was a great show.

Was the ending everything you wanted?

KeithyT said:

my take is that jack was dead from the very start of s1ep1, when he opened his eyes that was him entering into the limbo dreamstate before the afterworld. he basically died in the plane crash

what you see before the crash is real, such as the flashbacks in the earlier seasons, but what happens on the island is just jacks imagination

thus it wasn't technically a dream, and it had a real world explanation, the smoke monster etc etc didn't exist in the real world, only in jacks mind

opf course i could be completely wrong

unique said:

Nah I think this isn't it. The only imaginary part of it was the flash-sideways sections. My take is all the island stuff happened. Remember the wound on his neck that occured throughout this season in the flash-sideways? He got that on the island. Remember Michael's explanation of the whispers? If you think of the season 6 flash sideways thing as happening where the whispers come from it makes more sense.....in a way that only a sci-fi show like Lost can.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

connorhawke said:

I hope you're right.

My friend's take is that they all died in the plane crash and everything after was purgatory - everyone working out their personal stuff so they could finally "let go" at the end. And that works out well. And I kinda think he's right.
But I HATE IT. That cheapens everything, in my opinion. The more I think about it, the more I hate it. bleh.

CarrieMpls said:

Suggest to your friend that the flash-sideways bit was the purgatory, otherwise there would have been no conversation with locke and ben outside the church, nor the little conversation between hurley and ben in the same place. They all got to the flash sideways (purgatory) at different times...boone being the first. But since jack was the main character at the beginning the focus was on him at the end. Does that make any sense?

CarrieMpls said:

i agree with your friend, although it's open as to whether they all died at the same time, or at other times. jacks dad mentioned something about dying at different times. the other losties could have lived and died on the island. basically they were in limbo and had to undergo some kinda of emotional redemption before they could move to the afterworld

the makers made a point of a real world explanation, and of course the island couldn't have a real world explanation for the smoke monster and light etc etc

if the flash sideways was real, then the plane didn't crash, thus how did jack die?

the flash sideways seem to be his dream state slipping between a realistic existance and a fantasy one

Interesting take unique. That sort of fits with how I see it apart from everything from S1 ep 1 onwards being Jack's construct. In the last episode Jack's dad says to him that all his friends in the "church" formed the most important part of his life. But he didn't know them until they crashed on the island. So he/they must have lived that part?

I knew the ending wouldn't satisfy me in terms of answers, but I loved all the "life-flash" emotional parts (reunion of Sayeed/Shannon, Juliet/Sawyer etc kate/Jack). I'm a soppy old git, loved the fact that Vincent the dog laid down with him at the very end too. (sniff)

CarrieMpls said:

I'm trying to think of a science fiction series that had a satisfying ending, and I can't think of one right now. "X Files" got close but almost every other one I can think of has an ending that makes you go "What? C'mon, that can't be it!"

What a great ending! Somehow, it was a bit predictable but it was great nonetheless.
However, now that I´ve finished watching it just a few minutes ago, I feel really, really sad. It´s like an era coming to an end, and the whole storyline is very depressing yet uplifting at the same time when you think about it.

I´m still trying to figure out the deeper meaning of Hurley´s (un)lucky numbers and their connection to the island and the Dharma initiative and Desmond, or the Roman and Egyptian themed subplots, or the Hanso Corporation...but in the end, those are not that crucial and I guess it´s okay to learn how to live without having everything explained. That´s just one out of many lessons to be learned from this fantastic TV series.

I will surely miss those characters and can´t believe the show has come to an end.

Strangely enough, I kind of "sensed" most of the storyline right at the beginning during season 1.

Ok, here's one of the million things I don't get: Jacob said to MiB that the cannot leave as long as he is on the island. So MiB says he'll kill him. Jacob says then someone else will take his place. Jacob is dead but Jack becomes the new Jacob. So why did Smokey think he could leave the island on the boat? There's just too much that doesn't make sense in the end. Other than, it was alright, I guess.

And I think the Sideways-reality was purgatory or imagined or whatever. Island was real.

And if Smokey wasn't Smokey anymore after Desmond took the carrot out of the hole (and thus could be killed with the gun by Kate, however she knew that...) why couldn't he leave?
[Edited 5/24/10 6:03am]

Although the flash-sideways section was stated by Christian Shepherd to have been "made" by them (or was it just Jack?), I think as each character had their respective island memory revelation and/or reunion with a loved one, they then reflected the truth of the life they lived.

For example, when Hurley and Ben have their little exchange outside the chapel. It seems as if they really did carry on living on the island after jack's death. Hurley as the new protector and Ben as his second in command. They must have lived to a ripe old age (in real time) and then waited for their moment in Jack's limbo before deciding to move on (or not in Ben's case).

Crikey it can be as deep or as shallow as you want it to be I guess.
[Edited 5/24/10 6:05am]

connorhawke said:

Ben and Hurley still could have had that conversation, as they may have gone on on the island for a while before they would have gotten to a place where they were ready to die and move on...

unique said:

If they all died at separate times, then they were all actually on the island and it wasn't all some purgatory state. I'm not saying I want the flash sideways to be real, I just want the island to be real.

connorhawke said:

Sorry connorhawke, I didn't see your post. That's basically what I was trying to say. It's the time of death and each character's respective arrival in the flash-sideways limbo thing that is the hardest to explain but you did a pretty good job. The limbo is like an infinity so who died first/last becomes irrelevant. They all seem to be waiting for Jack...

KeithyT said:

I get that the flash sideways was a purgatory of sorts. That's not my contention. I'm fighting the idea of the entire seris being purtagory - that they died in the plane crash and everything after was them working towards salvation, redemption, whatever.

The island is not purgatory because you can't explain Dharma, and the Oceana Six if it was.

CarrieMpls said:

It wasn't all purgatory..to use the phrase -"what happened,happened".

Jacob kept bringing potential candidates to the island over the years but it always ended in corruption and fighting. he finally got it right with Jack and co...it was a big love in

CarrieMpls said:

my view is the island was real, and they crashed on the island and that's how jack died. when he died, his eyes opening at the start of s1 is him entering the state of limbo or whatever you want to call it, and the events on the island are a dream. the things that happened on the island can't happen in real life, such as smoke monster, magnetic, island moving, the light, etc etc, so that's in his imagination. that's why they could imagine being in the 50s and then 70s etc, and the flash sideways is his imagination wandering away from such a fantasy reality to a more realistic one

the reason he "knew" the other losties is because they were all brought together via fate, and the connection between them all is they all shared the same turbulent emotional experience that was the plane crash and then ending up on an island. the other losties were there when jack "lost" his life, and that's why he has the emotional connection that makes them "friends" in the afterlife. in jacks flasbacks to reality he was a bit of a loner

all the other losties had crossed paths before the plane crash, thus the coincidence and fate with the being drawn together