Tuesday, August 24, 2010

LOST

Well, well, well. Lost Season 6, the final season of the show, went on sale today. This brought back to me so many memories of the show. Watching it unfold, and discussing so many wild theories with other fans. So many memories. It was hard to see it go. And go it did with a bang. If you didn't know, the ending of Lost was very controversial indeed. Fans all over were divided. This was not unlike the division in thought of the characters on the show, but more on that later. I decided today would be a good a time as any to share my thoughts on Lost; discussing the final season, "The End", and the series as a whole. Oh and before I forget, there are spoilers ahead so please do not read until you finish watching the series yourself(unless of course you are someone who unfortunately does not care about having the plot/themes ruined for you). You have been warned.

I started watching Lost in February of 2009. The first 4 seasons had been around for quite some time, and lucky for me, every single last episode was online at ABC.com for my viewing pleasure. So I embarked on a journey with these characters who found themselves stranded on an island, far off course with no foreseeable hope at all. The first season of the show was so intriguing to me. Every episode centered around a character, which is a pattern many shows like to follow. But Lost did something unique. Every episode not only centered on a person on the island, but also gave us a peek into that individuals past, and this is what truly hooked me. I distinctly remember watching the episode Walkabout when you discover John Locke was crippled before he arrived on the island. The flashback and the imagery was tied in with the music so well it brought me to tears. From that moment on, I was wired to my computer watching episode after episode. The first 3 seasons especially flew by, and I was committed to seeing these people through to the end of their journey, whatever that might be. I was aware of season 5 being on television as I was catching up and eventually I did before the 100th episode. The last leg of season 5 was brilliant, and once it was over I got others hooked on the show and re-watched most of it myself. I came closer to the characters I loved and eagerly awaited to see where they could go in the final season.
Season 6 was criticized by most I think for one very sad reason. It did not provide very many answers. It revealed some things, but many things were left open-ended, and that made a lot of fans unhappy. They wanted to know where the island itself came from and what the specific "rules' of the island were, and why it healed people or seemed to choose some as special, and other such things. They wanted concrete answers. I think this where the true divide came for the fans. In the end, I feel like the show had two different kinds of viewers. You had people watching the show MAINLY because it was mysterious and they wanted to know what was behind it all, and you had another group that MAINLY watched it because they wanted to see what happened to the characters and how everything turned out for them. Both groups watched for the other group's reason, but I divide it by the MAIN reason. The people who hated it in the end hated it because there was no resolution to the mysteries of the island. The people who loved it did so because it gave, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful and touching endings any show could give to its cast. They all lived happily ever after in what can assume is eternity. All together. This is what touched me. The show touched me on many levels, Locke/Jack relationship high on the list, but above all I think it touched me in how it showed this group of strangers come together and become more than a group of survivors. They became a family. For me, I watched this show to see how it all turned out for Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and the whole gang. I wanted them to find escape from the island and be happy. And they did. So we didn't find out where the island came from or how it can travel through time exactly. There are mysteries in THIS LIFE that we don't have figured out, and it's OKAY. I always felt like Lost was a show that portrayed real people in the a very realistic world (aside from time travel and smoke monsters and what not). It felt real to me, and real life has mysteries we will never know. That's okay everyone. I guess I just wanted to write this so all those that were disappointed with the finale could see why I loved it. It's taken me a while to get all these thoughts out, but here they are. Lost is a great show, because it shows us people just like us. These people could be real. It shows them go through crazy things and come out fighting together, as a family. That is what life is about. Life is about working together, against each other to better ourselves and our world. We are born with a family, but I think everyone can agree once your life is lived, your family is so much larger than it was the day you were born. I hope you enjoyed Lost, and if you didn't like the ending, I challenge you to think back and look at it a different way. You might find that the answers don't matter as much as you thought they did.

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