Lost

[JoeinAR 1,949]

So here's my alternate ending. Not necessarily saying it should have been done this way...but it would have been more gutsy in terms of the fate of the universe, and it wouldn't have rendered all the flash-sideways scenes so unabashedly deceptive.

Everything up till the scene with Christian happens the same way. But that scene never happens. Instead, Jack just walks into the church, they all have their happy reunion, etc. Meanwhile, Jack is putting the stone back in its hole on the Island, and when that happens, we think everything's going to be okay - until we cut to Locke on the cliffs opening his eyes. (If unplugging the heart of the Island made him mortal, why wouldn't plugging it back in make him immortal again?) Back in the church, the mood turns suspenseful as the reunited survivors hear something outside. They go to open the door, and black smoke fills the room. We pull waaaaay back to reveal the entire Earth being engulfed in a cloud of flickering, roaring black smoke.

LOST

that's quite good and quite satisfying.

[Jay 37,281]

I think that the explanation for Jack's son and Nadia's children can be explained thusley:

The Flash-Sideways-Timeline was constructed to help people finally "let go" of their unresolved attachments.

• Jack had to "let go" of his attachment to his father-- something that was accomplished by becoming a father himself and understanding the difficulties of fatherhood.
• Locke had to "let go" of his guilt, accomplished by consenting to surgery.
• Charlie had to "let go" of his attachment to fame and success-- as shown by his insistence that the concert was unimportant when compared to his vision of Claire.
• Sayid had to "let go" of his quest for romance with Nadia, accomplished by having her as his sister-in-law and letting him voluntarily choose to leave her for her own good.
• Boone "let go" of his protective/romantic attachment to Shannon, by consciously instigating the fight that would reunite her with Sayid, a reversal of his earlier role of paying her boyfriends to leave.

[King Mark 3,624]

The problem for me is that this time they're using somekind of spiritual timeline while the 5 first seasons had sci-fi time travel and real flash backs and flash forwards.The two don't belong in the same show.

The ending last night feels like the ending of the alternate season 6 timeline only and not of the entire series

[Jay 37,281]

By the end of season 5, every characters back story had been explained, the time travel had stopped, and we are only following one timeline at a time. So a new device was needed.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I liked you're explanation of the sideways, Jay. Makes sense to me. I also liked Kimmel's theory that when 815 hit the turbulence in the premiere, and Rose says "You can let go now," is when Jack dies.

[John Crichton 4]

I guess it's very appropriate that the Lost finale once again produced more questions than answers.

[crocodile 7,982]

The problem for me is that this time they're using somekind of spiritual timeline while the 5 first seasons had sci-fi time travel and real flash backs and flash forwards.The two don't belong in the same show.

The ending last night feels like the ending of the alternate season 6 timeline only and not of the entire series

Actually, if you watch now the first season there is very little s-f there. They are all character-driven and they have this kind of soul-searching, purgatory feel. And the last season pretty much relates to those. Sideways are not important from the plot point of view. They are tool to enhance these stories on the island. It's a metaphor, if you will.

Karol

[Red 75]

I think it's better to look at the sideways, and specifically the resolution to the sideways, not as the end of the show but basically what happens after the end. The end is all the stuff that happened on the island leading up to Jack's death, so the sideways would sort of be flashforwards in a sense and show what eventually happens to these characters spiritually. The answer: all of them die.

[Jay 37,281]

I think it's better to look at the sideways, and specifically the resolution to the sideways, not as the end of the show but basically what happens after the end. The end is all the stuff that happened on the island leading up to Jack's death, so the sideways would sort of be flashforwards in a sense and show what eventually happens to these characters spiritually.

Exactly.

[crocodile 7,982]

I think it's better to look at the sideways, and specifically the resolution to the sideways, not as the end of the show but basically what happens after the end. The end is all the stuff that happened on the island leading up to Jack's death, so the sideways would sort of be flashforwards in a sense and show what eventually happens to these characters spiritually. The answer: all of them die.

I kind of have problem with explaining everything like this. Sure, you're version is fine. But for me it doesn't matter "when" all of this happens and even "what" it is. I mean in a literal sense. It doesn't matter. What matters is why they chose to tell this. I accept it as a "spiritual whatever". The plain explanation, like "afterlife", "flashforward", "alternate reality" just don't cut it for me. I don't want to know, really. I'm there for the pure emotional impact of it all.

Actually, it wouldn't be in the very spirit of Lost. The show was about mystery, not answers. I mean, it's kind of ridiculous to expect rational answers in a show where in the very first episode monster appears and "eats" the pilot, right?

In a sense the biggest mystery of Lost was always: what it is that we are watching? Is it s-f, is it reality show, drama, horror? Which episode the world kept expanding, but at the same time it was also becoming much smaller. Because everything was boiling down to the answer to the question above. And when we finally get there you still have room to speculate as to what it all means to you. I'm happy with that.

Karol - kind of tripping into the "captain obvious" territory again

[Red 75]

I get that, and I think it's important to remember that it isn't in a real time or a place. But we do know that this is what happens to all of these character after they die, so viewing it as an epilogue is the most accurate interpretation IMO.

[crocodile 7,982]

"Accurate interpretation" doesn't sound good to me. Kind of like in school. I don't see how it helps. But I'll just leave it at that.

Karol

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

So now that Lost is done, everyone should tune in for the final four episodes of JWFan Survivor. The last haven for mysterious island madness!

[John Crichton 4]

Just remember, the last people I want to see in the afterlife are these guys!

[Ollie 1,059]

You know those Corona commercials? The guy sitting on the beach, ice bucket filled with Coronas, with (or without) a woman.

That's me right now after leaving the island.

[Wojo 2,453]

The one where Mrs. Olivarez squirts you in the face with the lime?

[Morlock 11]

Best thing about the episode: Hurley.

Worst thing about the episode: Christian.

I think that the episode would be dissapointing if I had a huge amount invested in 'what happens next?'. But I was always one to just go with the flow, so I was not particularly elated or crushed by this episode, which struck me as a bit tepid.

[Olivier 5]

Wow.

Beautiful.

A great finale, with lots of action and suspense, and plenty of moving moments-- and splendid music.

An excellent series, from beginning to end.

Let's see, now...

(01) Everything that happened in the Island-verse (I-verse) until the Incident in 1977 happened

(02) The Incident and the Bomb create a new kind of event, leading to the Sideways-verse (S-verse)

(03) Cuse and Lindelof have said (nearly) from the beginning of the series that the Island was neither Purgatory nor Hell, and that it was all real

(04) Cuse and Lindelof have said from the beginning of Season 6 that the S-verse was not an alternate reality

(05) While the narrative in the S-verse picked up from Flight 815 for us, because it was the moment that the (post-Bomb) I-verse story started, it was not exactly created at this point; the characters had already been living similar lives (same events such as James' parents' death being due to Cooper/Sawyer, but different outcomes, such as James becoming a detective)

(06) Christian explains that all those meeting in the Church are dead, like he is

(07) They could not let go and die to go into the Heavenly Light until they had met again and remembered their common experience in the I-verse

(08) This remembrance started at the turning point of Flight 815 flying over the remains of the Island (which sank in 1977, as the Bomb destrouyed everything, including the light source, possibly creating a crack of causing some pressure to blow off the stone cork-- hey, a cork, like Jacob showed! I've only just thought of it)

(09) in the S-verse, the characters could have gone on in their lives never remembering anything of the I-verse, had it not been for fateful a series of fateful coincidences

(10) Now, what is the S-verse?

(a) Remembering Eloise's explanation to Desmond that trying to save someone whose death you had foreseen was pointless, because the Universe would course correct until it happened, as quickly as possible, just as it course corrected other minor changes.

I can't remember which philosopher in the Antiquity (Plato? darn, I should know, I quoted this in something I wrote some years ago-- prior to Lost)

said that there might be as many realities as there are choices in life, each reality corresponding to one choice and its consequence.

In quantum mechanics, the wave equation shows that a quantum system coexists in several states at once; no quantic system can be observed without interfering with it, and this is what resolves the ambiguity (the possibilities collapse); this is illustrated by Schrödinger's thought experiment of the cat in a lethal box: until you open the box, which may trigger the lethal mechanism or not, the cat is both alive and dead, in that the cat's survival depens on the consequence of your opening the box.

The S-verse may be what the Universe was supposed to be like, but Flight 815's crash created an ambiguous quantum state, a Schrödinger's box, so to speak (and you might go further and consider that the audience is the observer that affects the system by just observing it); the resolution comes when all the possibilities collapse and there remains only one.

The Universe collapses the system's coexisting possibilities by forcing a change, making the characters meet again and remember.

Recalling the events in the I-verse collapses the system into the S-verse because the characters then have the memories of two full existences (like Captain Picard in the beautiful "The Inner Light"-- wait, is that a secret reference? ), hold both lives within themselves, and the two possibilities, the two universes thus collapse into one.

At this point, they have to accept to let go, and go into the Heavenly Light; this resolves the fact that they ought to have died a few days before.

This is the "Man of Science" interpretation.

(b) The "Man of Faith" interpretation has a major common point with it, which is linked to the turning point of resolution: remembrance.

The characters do not just remember cerebrally: their bodies remember and change to incorporate in the S-verse their physical history in the I-verse; Jack gets his scars, Locke gets his legs back much faster than he should, and Sun & Jin can speak English at once.

Taking Christian's explanation further, the characters meeting in the church in the S-verse are not the only ones dead.

The I-verse is thus the prime universe; once people die, they go to the S-verse; the Bomb made this happen sooner for the characters, which made them the ones that had to let go, as opposed to those that were not ready.

The S-verse may be a transition in more senses than one: the characters are reborn, live more or less the same lives; there are similarities, as I pointed out above, but major differences as well; overall, their lives at the time of Flight 815 are neither great nor terrible; something is missing, which they had the opportunity to find in the I-verse.

The main point of the S-verse is that people are given a second chance to make better choices: for instance, Ben becomes a benevolent Doctor in European History that is tempted, yet does not gain power through plotting, preferring to help Alex.

This resurrection may occur several times over until the right time comes, which may not be the same for all For the characters meeting in the church, the time has com to let go; for Daniel and Charlotte, it may be the time and it happens elsewhere, or it may not be the time for reasons we shall never know.

( c )

"They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same"

"It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress."

The true end (which the finale's title may refer to) may be the one shown in the S-verse: the characters may die on the Island or later in the I-verse, but they are given a second chance to fulfill their lives, to live better lives, to make amends (Locke forgives Ben in their final great scene together), and that is when it truly ends; they have come (to the Island, ie, Life), they have fought, they have destroyed, they have (been) corrupted, but they have also been given (on the Island, on which they arrived in a flawed state, physically and/or psychologically/spiritually, then in the S-verse) a chance to progress, until they reached The (Ultimate) End, when they are at peace with themselves and with others, and have found a meaningful other (most of the characters in the Church were couples if I am not mistaken, except for Boone-- but you can consider he is now living a better relationship with Shannon-- and Christian, who acts as the Leader-- the Shepherd).

Lost has shown it repeatedly: you cannot be a Man of Science or a Man of Faith exclusively, whether only or successively; you have to be a bit of both.

Both interpretations lead to the same conclusion: the characters were flawed and needed healing; they had to go through harsh trials, to question their beliefs, their behavior, to let go of various things.

"Live together, Die Alone"; in The End, they for their lives to be complete, for them to find happiness and peace, they must remember what they have lived together in the I-verse, in which they died separately (albeit together in some small groups, the most meaningful one between Sun & Jin), to die together, to move one and leave, into The heanvely Light.

(11) Corollary: I am glad to have decided to go the Lighhouse's mirror way ( )to watch the episodes within a day of their broadcast in the U.S.A, because it has enabled me to enjoy discussing Lost here and elsewhere; I have enjoyed the discussions here a lot, and only regret not to have used the Lighthouse's mirror sooner. "Living Lost" together was great. Thanks to you all!

Of course, I'm looking forward to more discussions with you on this excellent series, now and in the upcoming months, but also on other things I have neglected discussing here (primarily film music, and of course, hem, John Williams).

PS:

I also watched the retrospective, and was very glad I did.

Watching it, I wondered how I could forget mentionning in my previous "Greatest Hits" this great moment when we discovered Locke had been paralyzed and had regained his legs on the Island.

[crocodile 7,982]

Great post. The Science interpretation is very interesting. Maybe they die metaphorically, bacause they now remember. So in a sense the universe is collapsing. Thanks for sharing.

Karol

[Red 75]

Indeed, well done Olivier. That might just be the best, most thorough take on it.

[Quintus 5,399]

Never saw it, but apparently the purgatory theory (one of the very earliest) was right all along. Bah! What a jip that they couldn't come up with something that was already so damn obvious! Had I invested time into the show, I'd have felt robbed, since all along even I have been of the assumption that it would surely have to be anything BUT purgatory, what with everyone guessing that ageeeees ago. That and all the unanswered questions, such as the Dharma Initiative and the hieroglyphic symbol thingys, would've been enough to make me feel cheated out of satisfying resolution. Glad I gave up watching halfway through the first season, big waste of time that I suspected it to be all along!

It would've been amazing and admirable, had the writers been able to come up with a stunning, knock out punch of a twist, or "reason" for it all, in the closing scenes; but they'd tied themselves up in so many knots along the way that it was never, ever gonna happen. That is the sole reason why I won't watch these sort of "writing blind" American serials.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

That is the sole reason why I won't watch these sort of "writing blind" American serials.

As opposed to...what from Britain that isn't just as blindly written?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Never saw it, but apparently the purgatory theory (one of the very earliest) was right all along. Bah! That and all the unanswered questions, such as the Dharma Initiative and the hieroglyphic symbol thingys, would've been enough to make me feel cheated out of satisfying resolution. Glad I gave up watching halfway through the first season, big waste of time that I suspected it to be all along!

It would've been amazing and admirable, had the writers been able to come up with a stunning, knock out punch of a twist, or "reason" for it all, in the closing scenes; but they'd tied themselves up in so many knots along the way that it was never, ever gonna happen. That is the sole reason why I won't watch these sort of "writing blind" American serials.

I hope you're just joking around with this post, because if you're serious, it is the most ignorant and misinformed reaction to the series ever. You can't possibly understand the end if you didn't even finish Season 1.

[Quintus 5,399]

Well the truth is, I have seen the odd episode or snippet here and there over the years, and even to me it was blatantly obvious that the writers were squeezing too much information in, too many half baked ideas, too many loose ends which were never gonna be tied. It was awfully apparent that they were getting themselves into a mess, with their insistance in dragging the show out as long as possible. The byproduct of such an approach is lack of self control and direction. It became a behemoth of topsy turvy exposition, which could never be fully reined in, and in the end it was clearly pulling ideas out of thin air. Of course it was. Bloody sideways dimensions my arse!

[Datameister 2,037]

Had I invested time into the show, I'd have felt robbed, since all along even I have been of the assumption that it would surely have to be anything BUT purgatory, what with everyone guessing that ageeeees ago. That and all the unanswered questions, such as the Dharma Initiative and the hieroglyphic symbol thingys, would've been enough to make me feel cheated out of satisfying resolution. Glad I gave up watching halfway through the first season, big waste of time that I suspected it to be all along!

False. Even in light of the disappointing final minutes, the show as a whole is ABSOLUTELY worth it. It would have been better if they'd come up with a truly satisfying ending and answered more questions along the way, but I'm not just being cute when I say that questions are often a lot more interesting than answers. A question provokes discussion...theorizing...debating...philosophizing...intelligent thought. An answer provokes a shorter response with a lot more finality to it. It's kinda like, "Okay, that's that...next!" Again, I want a lot of answers that we didn't get. I'm just sayin'.

The bottom line is that at LEAST until the final twist, this was an emotionally satisfying finale. Pretty much everyone I've talked to agrees. All the characters are coming together in a really beautiful way, which is of course what the show is ultimately about. I knew the finale was going to focus on that, but since I've always been so into the mythology of the show, I didn't expect to be okay with that. But it's such a well executed finale that I was fine with the lack of mythological revelation. It suddenly didn't seem as important. And in that sense, the finale was amazing for me. It's just the last twist that makes me fold my arms and go, "Really?"

I still would have preferred to have the alternate timeline be just that...an alternate timeline. Make it so that people in the original timeline can merge their consciousness into the alternate timeline by dying on the Island, and then kill off most of the characters on the Island. And they all live happily ever after. LIVE happily ever after.

[Quintus 5,399]

I'm not saying that the show wasn't good at all; because it was clearly very good and very effective; but the fact remains that the whole premise of the thing was based around the reason for their being on that mysterious island (remember the hype?), so when it finally turned out to be a ridiculously obvious reason after all, well I think that's just cheap and utterly deflating.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

So Lost ended on season 5. All righty.

The entire storyline we've been watching for 6 seasons is all what "really happened", and only the sideways was an "afterlife"

But my boss, and apparently a bunch of people on the internet, thinks that when Oceanic 815 landed on the island, everyone died immediately. Both the "reality" and the sideways were both "afterlifes". I don't see how that's possible at all but my boss is pretty adamant that's what happened..... his biggest reason being the shot of the Flight 815 wreckage over the ending credits.

Well, it's also nice to think that every single decision they took on the island led them to detonate a bomb which would then give them a glimpse of what their fully-realized lives could be like. Then something happens, a moment of realization, that makes them complete by showing the struggle they had to go through in order to get there. You get an immaculate rebirth to live your life free of sins and once you get the full picture of what it took to get you there, you're ready to go.

[Quintus 5,399]

Secretly, I was really hoping the climax would be a barnstormer - 'coz I was gonna lend the entire thing of my mate who's a die-hard Lost fan and watch it from start to finish. But I won't be doing that now.

[John Crichton 4]

Yeah, I'm not sure if I have the motivation to watch the whole thing now. Maybe someday.

And now 24 wraps up.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Well the truth is, I have seen the odd episode or snippet here and there over the years, and even to me it was blatantly obvious that the writers were squeezing too much information in, too many half baked ideas, too many loose ends which were never gonna be tied. It was awfully apparent that they were getting themselves into a mess, with their insistance in dragging the show out as long as possible. The byproduct of such an approach is lack of self control and direction. It became a behemoth of topsy turvy exposition, which could never be fully reined in, and in the end it was clearly pulling ideas out of thin air. Of course it was. Bloody sideways dimensions my arse!

This is just false. The only instance of dragging the show out was in Season 3, which is when the show hit its lowest point. They never stuffed it with "half baked ideas," but they dragged it out because they didn't know how long the show was going to last. When their ratings plummeted, that's when they sat down and set an end date. Everything since then has been planned out, so any loose ends that are left open, were left open on purpose. They could have chose to end it on Season 7 or 8, but they knew what they wanted to introduce and answer, and decided on 6. I'm sorry Quint, but you don't have this show figured out. From one of your earlier posts, it seemed like you thought the entire show was them in purgatory.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

That was beautiful.

My feelings can be summed up by this quote from a chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"

That perspective on life and death perfectly fits in with what I just saw, and I'm completely content with it.

[Datameister 2,037]

My feelings can be summed up by this quote from a chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"

Ironically, that was an example I considered using to demonstrate how this sort of ending can be a satisfying revelation, rather than a frustrating twist for twistiness's sake.

I was in a (very casual) meeting just now, and afterward, I asked if anyone caught the finale. It quickly degenerated into a discussion about how it's ridiculous that the show ever got put on the air. One guy commented (tongue-in-cheek-ly) that he hated anyone who watches LOST, including his girlfriend. I decided to just let it go.

[King Mark 3,624]

The bottom line is that at LEAST until the final twist, this was an emotionally satisfying finale.

yes,I agree. It pushed all the right emotional buttons.

So the island story is:

Smoke monster is killed>>>>can't escape into real world and wreak havoc

Jack dies

Hurley and Ben are now keeper of the island (to protect it from whatever)

Kate and the others are not candidates anymore so the island is "done with them" and they can leave forever on the plane ( unlike the last time they left and had to come back)

Is that right?

[Datameister 2,037]

Yup, that's the long and short of it.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

The literal ending is simple - everyone who died, died (including Jack). Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Richard and Frank escaped and lived out the rest of their lives. Hurley and Ben continued to protect the Island for the rest of their days.

The metaphysical ending: Eventually, when all those remaining characters pass away for whatever reason (hopefully natural causes at a very old age) they come together in their own "deathly consciousness". They make peace with themselves and prepare to move on.

[Datameister 2,037]

Yep.

They still should have had all the characters (except maybe a redeemed Ben) die on the Island and end up merging into their alternate timeline selves. Would've been much more satisfying.

[John Crichton 4]

OK, so what exactly was the island? Is that ever explained?

[Datameister 2,037]

A cork for keeping evil incarnate bottled up.

A place where miracles happen.

A Godforsaken rock.

Take your pick.

[King Mark 3,624]

no. That's my main complaint. I know it's "about the characters" but after 6 years of island mysteries they could have explained it more

[John Crichton 4]

Yeah, I understand it being about the characters first and foremost. I remember Ron Moore talking about they were having so many problems mapping out the Galactica finale and one day he just went in and wrote on the board "It's the characters, stupid" and everything got cleared up from then on.

BUT, at the same time the island is the central plot mover of the entire series. There should have been some attempt at giving a fuller explanation of something so pivotal.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

My interpretation is that it's an island with special properties. Immense pockets of electromagnetism and energy flow through its heart - it's basically a pressure point of Earth and its living inhabitants. Its properties could be explained in either complicated scientific terms or in a mythological, religious sense. Much like the show really. Neither is the wrong answer.

[Datameister 2,037]

Indeed they could have, KM. As I've said, they really answered very little about the Island in this episode, which I was kind of expecting would be the case. But what I wasn't expecting was to be as satisfied with that as I was. They really did make it all about the characters, and even though I've tended to be at LEAST as interested in the mythology as the characters, I was okay with them putting the focus where it belonged for the final episode.

It would have been nice if the bulk of this season had given more answers, though. It didn't need to be as contrived as they often make it sound like it'd be. It could have been worked into the plot organically. I mean, there are very central mysteries that just weren't explained.

EDIT: But again, the problem is that sometimes an answer just sounds stupid, whereas a question can be a fascinating catalyst for ongoing ponderings and discussions. Heck, I liked the Others best when we knew absolutely nothing about them. The more we found out, the more boring they got. More so than necessary, but still.

[Wycket 36]

I for one really enjoyed the finale.

I tend to disregard anyone who is upset because they didn't get the ending they wanted (i.e. getting all the answers) because this show never was about answers, and if you did go into the finale expecting them, than you clearly were not watching the same show that I watched. I thought the confrontation between Jack and Smoke was well done, and while I would have like Smoke to dissolve from the form of John Locke after it died, its a minor quibble. Having Jack finally being right about something was a treat (as was his line that "it had to happen sometime").

As for the sideways universe, I think it was a great way to explain it. It was exactly what the writers wanted it to be, a plot device to bring back characters who had already died so that they could all be reunited at the end. I'm not a man of faith, but the idea of purgatory and living a lifetime within a moment are not just ideas of a specific group, but one that many hold so I felt it was a nice way to include people of different faiths so as to not polarize the audience. Christian's explanation to Jack was the most straight forward this show has ever been, and if people can't understand it than I don't know why they even watched the show this long.

And in regards to Datameister's alternate ending: sorry man, but that ending would have pissed me off to no end. You don't really have any real resolution here, and basically just end the sorry with a Twilight Zone twist. Not a bad one, I'll give you that, but I really don't understand how Smoke would still be alive. If Jack killed him when he was mortal, putting the stone back in would make no difference as he's already dead. Its basically just a shock ending for the sake of a shock ending, instead of the actual ending which I felt gave resolution to all the characters and showed that in the end, they were the most important part of each other's lives.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

In light of some of the more amusingly dramatic reactions that some people have had over the ending I keep remembering this jewel from The Simpsons (which I've posted before)

Bart: Hey, I know it wasn't great, but what right do you have to complain?

Comic Book Guy: As a loyal viewer, I feel they owe me.

Bart: What? They're giving you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? I mean, if anything, you owe them!

Comic Book Guy: Worst episode ever.

I know everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and it doesn't bother me at all that some people didn't like the ending. I just laugh when people harp on about "wasting" 6 years of their lives and demand an apology. I don't see the logic in fans pinning so much on the end when it's always been about - and always will be in any form of literature - the journey.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Anyone else love the shot of Christian walking out and all of our original cast seated in the church? It was a split moment, but they were all place intricately in the rows. I know Locke was the only one in the front, on the left. Jack and Kate the only ones on the right. It was a great shot.

And sorry Joe, but your ending is pretty cliche. It reminds me of the ending to Burton's Planet Of The Apes.

@ Wycket: What would Locke have dissolved into? A pile of ash? He was human, but he was void of his body and became the smoke. He could only take the form of Locke after Jacob died, and after the cork was removed, he was permanently Locke.

The main thing I'm wondering, after all of it, is what turned the MIB into the smoke? I wasn't expecting that waterfall to lead to another Egyptian temple-like structure. What did he hit or touch down there that caused his transformation? Nothing stood out from what we saw.

[Wycket 36]

I know everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and it doesn't bother me at all that some people didn't like the ending. I just laugh when people harp on about "wasting" 6 years of their lives and demand an apology. I don't see the logic in fans pinning so much on the end when it's always been about - and always will be in any form of literature - the journey.

Completely agree.

The producers said that they were going to finish the series the same way they did the entire series. Am I disappointed that there wasn't some great big grand scheme to the island that was revealed? Partly, but that would have cheapened the show to me more. Simply the fact that there is this mysterious island where these group of people had the craziest adventure of their lives on was enough for me. Its sort of like a magic trick: you can be amazed by a trick when you have no knowledge of the trick and how it was put together, but then when you know the secrets, you can't help but criticize and put out the tricks flaws. I'm for one happy not to know all the secrets, that way I'll never be disappointed when I watch this show in the future.

And regarding those comments by the producers, here's a segment from ABC news that was taped on Thursday but just aired today. I don't think anyone's posted it yet, but I might of missed it.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=nagGI_s13sQ

What would Locke have dissolved into? A pile of ash? He was human, but he was void of his body and became the smoke. He could only take the form of Locke after Jacob died, and after the cork was removed, he was permanently Locke.

I think the body turning into smoke and evaporating would have been nice, but simply a stylistic thing as I didn't love the fact that he died in a human form (especially Locke's). Nothing major or that I got upset about, just an idea I had that I thought might have been a nice touch, though the cork out of the island negates the whole thing (not that it really was his body but whatever).

[Datameister 2,037]

And sorry Joe, but your ending is pretty cliche.

As opposed to all the spirits vanishing into the bright light so they can "move on"? (And which one are you referring to? The silly Smokey-eats-the-planet ending, or the more serious everyone-has-to-die-to-end-up-in-the-right-timeline ending?)

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'm talking about the dramatic pull out to the smoke engulfing the world. LAME!

[Datameister 2,037]

[Desplat13 1]

Oh wow. OK, I'm satisfied.

Now I just want a complete release of the music for that episode.