My Thoughts on "The End" Of Lost (From May 24th)

Wow. That was probably the most satisfying and the most frustrating episode of Lost that I’ve ever seen. To a certain extent, I don’t even know where to begin a review because I’ve spent most of the last 24 hours trying to make sense of the ending. Seriously, I didn’t sleep at all last night.

Maybe this will clarify how I feel. Think of a restaurant, a brand new city hotspot. Everyone, everyone, wants to eat there, and they scramble to put their names down for reservations. You’re on the waiting list but it’s backed up for months, and during those months all you hear about is how great the food is, and how cool the place looks. You’re talking to everyone you can about this place, and then, finally, you get in. You get a table! So you dress up nice and head off. Once you’re at the restaurant, you see just how cool the place looks. You pick up a menu. You’ll have the steak filet, with a side of redskin potatoes and some sautéed carrots (can you tell I’m not a restaurant owner yet?). This meal is going to be so good.

Finally, the food arrives. You stare down at your plate and you see…a 4 oz. filet, two potatoes, and one carrot on the side. Now, that still may be the best filet, potatoes, and carrot that you’ve ever tasted, but you still think to yourself, “Really? That was it?”

And that ‘s what I thought of Lost’s final episode, aptly titled “The End”. I thought that the emotion and the character resolution were great and really touching. But, really, no mythology nuggets? Not even a small bit of information about how the Island is…the Island? Come on, that’s just plain maddening. Damon & Carlton can monologue all they want about how the show was always about characters, but the fact remains that the pair spent a lot of time creating an engaging mythology of clues and mysteries for fans to follow. To leave some enduring parts of that mythos relatively untouched, well it’s just a little unfair.

Look, it’s completely within their rights for the Lost producers to write a finale that is emotional in its tone, and more focused on poetic resolution and romantic imagery than it is on evidence and answers and explanations. But it’s also a fan’s prerogative to be dissatisfied.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the emotional payoff of the Sideways reunions; I was moved by the poignancy of Jack’s final scene; and I was also thrilled by the final showdown between Jack and Fake Locke. But I, like many other fans of the show, am a person who enjoys details. And details-minded people can’t help but be inquisitive about the things that we see. So when I’m asking questions about how the Golden Cave Cork was made, or about how electromagnetism is connected to the white light and the Island’s magical power, or even about where the Island came from, I’m not whining, nor am I, as the more vocal finale-supporters suggest, simply looking to be spoonfed all of the answers that I feel owed. I’m just curious. I’m curious because it’s my nature, and because part of the magic that I’ve found in Lost is that the show has given me so much to be curious about. I’m fine with an Island that is inherently magical and mysterious. But I just wanted to know a little bit more. That’s why I’m dissatisfied.

Maybe my thoughts will change when I watch the series through again, later on this year. As I’ve been writing this, I’ve even thought through the finale some more and I’ve put more things together and come to some conlusions that, in the long run, might make me enjoy the ending more. On the other hand, maybe I’ll always feel like there could’ve been more to the finale just because that’s the way I am. Either way, I can truthfully say that I’ll never find a show that was as unique and engaging as Lost. For better or for worse, it’s still the best thing I’ve ever seen on television.