More Thoughts on "The End" & Entire LOST Series

NOTE: I seriously started writing the following post when LOST ended A YEAR AGO. I kind of needed to take a break from LOST, and mostly this post because it had gotten pretty long (I also forgot about it.). Life kind of got in the way, and I'm just getting back to it now. Please keep in mind that this is how I felt about everything (mainly the awful fan reaction) when it ended, and I'm much more chill about it now. I listened to Bob Marley, because who doesn't like Bob Marley?

Now that I've had some time to reflect on The End and the series as a whole, I've come away with a lot of realizations in hindsight, and some theories as to what I believe actually happened. But, first, I must give some background.

Why did I get into LOST?
Since September 22, 2004, I've been hooked into the story that has been LOST. I remember that summer, always seeing promos for it, because ABC actually did a good job promoting it, which doesn't happen often with any network anymore. I remember thinking how interesting it looked, so I knew I would check it out, at the very least.

Back then, I don't even think there was a television show that I watched regularly. In fact, I didn't really watch television at all. I had previously watched shows like Six Feet Under, and The Sopranos, on HBO, but I didn't have cable, so I had fallen way behind on them. Since I'm not really a huge television viewer to begin with, I didn't have a show that I watched regularly. Not exactly an elitist attitude, but more so that I just simply get bored with things that don't challenge me. Trust me, I won't give you the "I don't even own a television." schpeal. I own a television. I just get bored far too easily.

Then, LOST came along, and it changed everything. The story was gripping, and for some reason, it really resonated with me. And, as much as I watched the entire show because I loved the mythology, I got hooked because of the characters. I was twenty-one years old, and though, at the time, I had no idea that I didn't know who I was at all, I really didn't. In a lot of ways, LOST saved my life. It helped me find out who I am as a person. Because, before LOST, I was lost, too. These characters were lost in their lives, just as I was in mine, and I think that's why I found it so easy to relate to. I suspect it was probably that way for a lot of people.

What happened in the beginning?
I believe that LOST came along at exactly the right time. Television was swarming with Reality TV, and, at the time, I think a lot of people were tired of it, and starved for good story-telling. For once, there was something out there, that didn't assume that you weren't intelligent enough to understand it, and it refused to spoon-feed you the answers. It was interesting, and mysterious, and I think that's what drew a lot of people in from the beginning. The characters weren't perfect. They were flawed and easy to relate to. And they were on an Island where none of that mattered. Someplace Special. A place where they could all start over. Wouldn't we all like the opportunity to wipe the slate clean? A Tabula Rasa of sorts.

There is no doubt that the odds were completely stacked against LOST before it even aired. Like I said before, we were living in the era of being completely hit over the head by Reality TV. Which is fine for some people, but not really for me. Those shows are guilty pleasures, not something that makes me think and keeps me continually engaged. So, when LOST premiered, it was definitely something that was completely different than anything else that was on. Everything about it was phenomenal. You could tell that the standards were high. From J.J. Abrams being involved, to the diverse, ensemble cast, the writing and acting, the music, and even where it was set. Everything was all top-notch.

How did I feel about the entire Series? Well, I felt a whole range of emotions. 
The reason that I believe LOST caught lightning in a bottle, if you will, is because of the quality of television it continued to produce. The Pilot set the bar high, and the creators continued to keep the show at that level. Even when it faltered, for brief moments, it was still better than anything else on television. That is what kept me watching at times when my faith was waning and I was questioning the direction everything was going.

Believe it or not, LOST taught me a lot about myself, but more than anything, it taught me patience, and understanding, and that not knowing everything is okay. It taught me to enjoy the journey and not to focus on where everything ends up. Life isn't just about where you end up. It's about the experiences that you have along the way.

Now. How did I really feel about the finale of LOST and Season 6? Well, I'll tell you.
Here's the thing. I made the choice for myself to go into the Final Season of LOST with a different mindset. If you had told me early-on that, in the end, I wouldn't really care about the answers so much, I would have told you that you were crazy. If you had even told me early-on that this is what the ending to LOST would be, I would have fucking hated it. The things is that I spent most of the Series obsessing, theorizing, and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I think, maybe I did it so much that I was almost relieved that it was actually coming to a conclusion. I was definitely sad that it was all coming to an end, but at the same time, nothing good lasts forever and the story had to end some time.

What, I feel, some people don't quite understand, is that LOST was the story of these characters, that were on Oceanic Flight 815, and crashed on a mysterious Island. The entire story was about them. It wasn't about the history of the Island. It was about the characters, and the people and things they came across, in their story. When it was about mythology, it was because they discovered it. When it was about emotion, it was because they were feeling it. They didn't have all the answers, and neither did we. This is something that I always felt was apparent, throughout the entire series, but I think went over some people's heads.

Every time we got answers, people complained. Every time they spelled things out for us, people complained. Almost every single episode that aired was simultaneously the best episode ever and the worst episode ever. And they "jumped the shark" about 121 times. There will always be haters. I will not waste my time or my life being so damn negative, to the point where I can never really enjoy anything. Did it frustrate me at times? Absolutely. I know it sounds like I'm a homer for LOST, but believe me, there were times where I was frustrated, and hated certain aspects of the show. There was even a time in Season Two that I actually read SPOILERS, as crazy as that sounds. It ruined the show for me. I never even thought about touching them after that. Sure, there are many things that rubbed me the wrong way, choices they made, directions they went in, where I was uncertain of how I felt about this show anymore (Ahem. Beginning of Season Three.), but they always restored my faith somehow.

When feeling frustrated with not getting answers, you have to ask yourself "What would an answer to that question look like?" If you think about trying to explain LOST to anyone who doesn't know a thing about it, and then think how you would try to explain some of the questions it asks, you simply can't explain it. It's not because of lazy writing. It's because, sometimes you use a mystery as a storytelling device, but to actually explain it at length would just sound ridiculous. Sometimes the mystery is way better than the answer. People complain about answers, but when they get the answers, they then complain about that too. I even would have been happy with less answers than what they gave us. I would have been happy never knowing what the whispers were, because I thought the actual answer was way over-explained for my taste. Sure, I would have liked knowing about Walt and why he was special, but I also didn't really expect to ever know more about that, considering the circumstances.

There seems, to me, to be a lot of people out there who were unhappy with how it ended and the answers they did or didn't give. I feel as though, somehow, a lot of people wanted them to show every second of the entire story of LOST. Well, that is impossible. It is also boring to me. I do not need to see the Polar Bears turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel, or what exactly the Smoke Monster is made out of, or who Mother's mother is. I don't need to know what The Force is. You can't give a rational explanation for something that is completely irrational. Any answer or explanation to any of those things would be completely ridiculous and boring to me. In fact, almost every time they have given answers, people have complained. A lot of people hated Across the Sea and I thought it was a great episode (minus a few nit-picky things). Why? Because it explained some things, but also left a lot of questions, and things wide open for your own interpretation. Why do I need to see who brought Mother to the Island? Because then all you would ask is, "Well, then who or what brought them to the Island?" and so on. I don't need to see that. What my imagination can conjure is far more interesting to me. I enjoy being given the opportunity to think for myself. I don't like to be told that I'm an idiot without being given a chance to challenge myself.

More thoughts on the finale, "The End" and what it all meant.
Before anything else, I think that people must understand that the entire point of the show wasn't the finale. It was the journey. The experience. It was the whole entire story. Not just the characters. Not just the mythology. It was everything. Since the very beginning, the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, have explored the Island and its mysterious nature, and we've come to know what they know. But, they do not have all of the answers. Therefore, we don't either. This is important.

You have to first allow yourself to look at the big picture. I understand not being able to wrap your head around that. If you had told me a few years ago that LOST wouldn't explain everything, or that the ending wouldn't be some "twist" that would totally confuse me, I would have been angry. But, as I said before, I changed during all of this.

It's about the entire story, the journey, and about the experiences that we had with it. That's the one thing that sets LOST apart from almost everything that's ever been out there. It wasn't just a television show, as silly as it sounds. It was an experience like no other. Sure, there are things that I had issues with, or did not completely enjoy. But, nothing is perfect, and I don't think that, had I not enjoyed the finale, it would have completely ruined the experience for me.

I have seen so many reviews that start off with "I haven't watched since Season One, but I tuned in to the finale of LOST..." or "I never watched LOST, but I wanted to see what all the hype was, so I watched the finale.." and blahblahblah "It sucked." To those people, I say this. It wasn't for you. You didn't devote yourselves to the story. It wasn't written for you. It was for the people who dedicated themselves to the experience. And, if you did just that, and you didn't like it at all, then I completely respect your opinion, and you are entitled to hating it. Otherwise, shut up. You missed the point. You don't deserve to enjoy it.

There were also lots of people that watched everything, and still hated it. You simply didn't have to watch it. If all you wanted was answers, I think you were watching the wrong show. If you thought that ABC's constant proclamation that "All of the QUESTIONS will be ANSWERED" is enough weight to hold your case, you clearly were not following the creators and writers of this show. This show was a mystery. It will always be a mystery. A LOT of things were answered. If you don't believe me, maybe you should go back and watch the series again, because you clearly missed something the first time around. There were things that were left unanswered, but not many. Do not ask me about the fucking Polar Bears, or Ben's girlfriend, Annie, or why Libby was in Santa Rosa with Hurley, or if Dave was real, or about the pregnancy problems on the Island, or about the fucking numbers. Because if you followed the show as closely as I did, you either got all of those answers, or you were given enough clues and information to figure them out on your own. This was a thinking man's show, not one where we were spoon-fed the answers. I don't mean to sound harsh, but sometimes I really feel like some people weren't watching the same show as I was.

What I really wish is that the people who watched everything, and still didn't enjoy it, would go back and watch everything again. I would really like to know how they feel after that. I have a feeling that their opinions would change, if even just a little. Please, if you are reading this, and you feel that way, give it another chance. Sometimes you realize a lot in hindsight, or your perspective changes your opinion with time. If you enjoyed everything except the finale, then I think that you owe it another shot. It is truly a great story, and somehow, somewhere along the line, you were lost. All I can say is this. If you enjoyed the show up until "The End" then please don't ruin it for yourself. Don't feel like you wasted your time watching it. If you really enjoyed it, but didn't like the ending, don't let that ruin the entire thing for you.

With that all being said, I don't think that there was any way that they could possibly please everyone. No matter what they did, some people just weren't going to like it. It has happened with every single television show that has ended before this one. People hated the ending to shows like Seinfeld, The Sopranos, and Battlestar Galactica, etc. There were also people that loved the same finales that those people hated. It's all about perspective. And, I, for one, am not going to spend my life complaining, or focused on it not being exactly what I wanted it to be. Because, my thing was, that I went into this season with an open heart and an open mind. I was not going to ruin the whole thing for myself by deciding what it had to be. I did decide, however, that I was just going to let the journey take me wherever it was going to go, and then decide for myself, after it was all over, how I felt about it. I think that was probably the best thing that I ever could have done for myself, and I'm so glad that I did.

Let's get into some detail about "The End" already. Fine!
First off, let me just say that I am not, in any way whatsoever, religious. In fact, I would venture to say that I absolutely loathe (Especially organized.) Religion. I don't even believe in an afterlife. And, yet, I still loved the ending. You know how that's possible? Because I don't see anything as a definite. I see them as possibilities. I see the story as open-ended. How could I possibly not be angry at the ending when I hate religion so much? Because I don't even see it as a Religion, as Purgatory, or as Heaven. It's what they made for themselves, or what you make for yourself. It's whatever you want it to be, or whatever I want it to be, or whatever each individual character wanted it to be. Nothing is set in stone. Nothing is black and white. Nothing on this show ever has been. It has always been in the grey area somewhere. The answers don't matter to me. What I was looking for was a feel. An emotion. A feeling of being content, at peace, of total serenity. And, when Jack said, "I died too." that feeling washed over me. That's all that mattered. I was at peace, as Jack soon would be.

I also hate the idea of destiny. I don't believe in it. But, for a television show, and for a story, it works. So many times LOST showed us the end of something, and it made it more interesting. It wasn't the ending, but how they got there that mattered. Remember "We have to go back, Kate!" and the chills you felt when you saw that for the first time? I will never forget it. But, ask yourself, how could that possibly be interesting? You know where they end up. You know they get off the Island. But, the question isn't if they get off the Island or not, it's how they got there. 

What I find most confusing is how shocked people were with the "religious" or "spiritual" ending to the show. The entire show had talked about destiny, fate, and faith. What were you watching? How could you be surprised by the ending? How could you think that they made that up as they went along? These themes were sprinkled throughout the entire series. Maybe you should go back and watch it. For as much as I do not believe in God, nor believe in an afterlife, I still loved it. And you know why? Because it had so much fucking heart. And that, above all else, is what is most important to me in the things that I love the most in life.

What I look for most in life, in the people that I choose to surround myself with, in the hobbies that I have, in the things that I enjoy spending my time on, is heart. Whether it be in a friend, a television show, films, even sports.. Heart is the constant. And, above all else, I walk away from this entire journey saying "That show had a lot of heart." and that's all that matters, because, to me, it was a great fucking story. 

Look. They took risks. You may see the ending as a cop-out, or cliché, but I see it as a big fucking gamble. How many shows would have the fucking balls to end like that? That is one of the biggest things that I loved about this whole thing. They're not afraid to go out on a limb. They never have been. They will kill the characters you love. You won't get all of the answers. The hero will die in the end. How many times have you read or watched a piece of work that abides by those rules? Almost never. And it's not out of bad writing, or laziness, or not having a plan. It's about challenging the audience to think for them-fucking-selves for once. You figure it out. You read the damn book. You decide what the answers are. That means way more to me than being told what to think, or what to believe.

You can claim the ending was a cop-out, and that you didn't get all the answers, but I think that it was exactly the opposite of that. Giving every single answer would be the cop-out. That's not the way LOST has always been. To go against everything they have shown us for six years would be a betrayal to everything that the show has been, and quite frankly, it would insult me. What they did was risky, no doubt. I understand that a lot of people hated it. Not everyone was going to love such a controversial ending. BUT. You cannot argue that hasn't been what LOST is for six years. It has always been risky. It has never given us all the answers. It has always challenged us to think outside of the box, to look at things in a grey area, rather than seeing them in black and white. Any answer they would have given would have just sounded silly. I don't believe that they should have given answers just for the sake of giving them. They did their show. That is what they've done all along. You can't claim, on one hand, that they didn't know what they were doing from the very beginning, and then in the same breath, ask them to add fan input into the show. One contradicts the other. And furthermore, the ending, to me, was heartfelt and beautiful, and that's more than I ever could have asked for. Because, as a guy who doesn't cry a whole lot, and certainly not at a fucking television program, this show really touched me in a lot of ways. And I will never forget that. 

These things are what makes LOST unique. This experience has been special to me, and regardless of if I loved or hated the finale, I would have felt this way. The entire series didn't depend on the ending for me. It was still a great ride. It was still special. I feel like people aren't seeing that, and I wish they did. I wish that I could show those who feel that they wasted their time what I see. But, the perspective is up to you. We can spend our lives hating things, or setting ourselves up for disappointment, or we can make the best of things, and look at the bright-side. I guess LOST has taught me to be somewhat of an optimist, which is crazy, because if you knew me, you would know that I'm probably one of the most cynical people there is.

Sometimes I feel like people are just looking for something to complain about. You didn't have to watch it. No one forced you to. You had to know that there was a huge possibility for disappointment. You shouldn't have decided what the ending had to be. To me, it was the completion to the story that began with the opening of Jack Shephard's eye. How could you not be moved by that? It was touching.

Furthermore, I found it incredibly symbolic that Hurley became the one to take over the Island. Why, you ask? Because Hurley has always sort of been the voice of the audience. When Jack handed over the reigns to Hugo, it was sort of like the creators/writers telling us "Here. This is for you. It's yours now."

With that all being said, let's talk about some of the questions that went unanswered, shall we?
The only (Important and explainable.) things we really didn't find out (from the Series) were why Walt was so special, where the DHARMA Initiative food-drops came from, who built the four-toed statue, and who was on the outrigger canoe that shot at Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel Faraday, Miles, and John Locke.

Unanswered Questions:

• What exactly is the Smoke Monster?**
• Why was Walt so damn special?*
• How did the food drops keep coming to the Island?*
• What caused the pregnancy issues on the Island?*
• Why did Desmond have a flash of Claire getting on a helicopter?**
• Who was in that outrigger canoe that shot at the time travelers?
• Why can Hurley and Miles talk to the dead?
• What is the Island?**

*Answered in The New Man in Charge.
**Questions that I, personally, don't really need answered. To each his own, I guess.

What exactly is the Smoke Monster?**
I don't really need or want to know. The explanation for what exactly the Smoke Monster is made of would just be silly. Some times things just sound and look cool, but if you actually explain them, it all just seems lame. The idea of the Smoke Monster is way cooler than any possible explanation of what it actually is.

Why was Walt so damn special?*
I have no idea why. This is one of the things that will probably bug me until the end of time. I really enjoyed Walt as a character in Season One. Walt being special and his relationship with John Locke was probably one of the most intriguing things to me in the beginning, but somewhere along the way, it fell by the wayside.

Now, I completely understand why. Malcolm David Kelley got freakin' big and he did it fast. There was no way that they could have foreseen that coming at the rate that it did. But, what they should have planned for, was that a kid was going to grow up, period. They could have resolved issues with Walt and his specialness before they had to exclude him from the show for growing up too fast.

To be fair, I still enjoy Walt and the mysteries that were left behind, when he had to leave the show, when I go back and watch it all. But, it does bug me. I want to know why Walt was so special. I want to know why and how he knew things that were going to happen in the future. Perhaps, I will never know, and it won't kill me, or keep me from enjoying the show.

In The New Man in Charge, we find out that Hurley and Ben bust Walt out of Santa Rosa to bring him back to the Island. We can assume that everything that happened with the Island and with his dad landed him there. I really like that Walt was brought back to the Island. We can also assume that, with some grooming by Hurley and Ben, eventually, Walt became the new leader of the Island. That's pretty damn cool. We can also assume that being back on the Island gave Walt some closure with Michael, hopefully. That was something that always bothered me. I guess, from all of that, we can assume that the reason Walt was so special was because he belonged on the Island.

How did the food drops keep coming to the Island?*
Ever since we found out about the food drops, in Season Two, I always thought that it had something to do with the time-differences and the trajectory of things arriving on the Island. Maybe the DHARMA Initiative sent them to the Island in the 70s-80s, before the purge, and they were just arriving there at the time after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Maybe the DHARMA Initiative didn't even know about the purge.

Look, whatever the case my be (ha!) the issue of the food drops are (Rumor has it.) going to be addressed in the Epilogue. So, we will get an answer of some sort. And we did..

In The New Man in Charge, we find out that a DHARMA Logistics Warehouse, in Orote Peninsula, Guam, was kept open in order to send the food drops to the Island. Two men worked there for 20 years, receiving automated messages from The Lamp Post Station to initiate the food drops, and loading the pallets to be sent to the Island, which was found by using coordinates from The Lamp Post. Whatever. Once again, and instance where my theory seems way more awesome than the actual answer to the question.

What caused the pregnancy issues on the Island?*
Now, this is just a theory, but I do think that it's pretty damn accurate. We know that Amy Goodspeed had a child on the Island in 1977 and that Dr. Juliet Carlson (That should have been her freakin' last name all along!) delivered said baby while working for the DHARMA Initiative. I won't mention that fact that it was completely ridiculous that, one minute, Juliet was a Mechanic, and the next she was suddenly working as a Doctor for the DHARMA Initiative, and they didn't find that curious at all. I guess they were too busy having a hootenanny to care.

We also know that Amy Goodspeed was on the Island in 1974, when she met Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Daniel, and Miles, and they helped her out when she was being attacked by the "hostiles" while having a picnic in the jungle, for no apparent reason other than to break the damn truce, and for the sake of storytelling, but that's beside the point. From that, we can conclude that Amy Goodspeed was, in fact, on the Island for that three-year gap in between 1974, and 1977, and also the nine months before she successfully gave birth to creepy baby Ethan Rom, I mean, uhh.. Ethan Goodspeed!

From that information, we can conclude that there were no pregnancy issues, at the very least, prior to 1977, or, at least, that we know of. So, what exactly happened in, or after, 1977 that could have caused women to have pregnancy issues on the Island? Well, the "Incident" happened.

First, we must remember that Sayid removed the core of Jughead. The entire Hydrogen bomb did not go off, but the core of that bomb, did. When Juliet violently insulted the core of Jughead, it did go off, but it wasn't the entire bomb that caused the problem. It was the core of that bomb, and the mix of electromagnetism that came from where The Swan was later built, that caused the pregnancy problem.

What is ironic about the whole thing is that Dr. Juliet Carlson came to the Island to fix the pregnancy problem that she created. Kind of sad, but funny, too, right? Maybe not in a "ha-ha" way, but still funny nonetheless.

Also, in The New Man in Charge, we found out that the electromagnetic properties on the Island caused the pregnancy issues. Which, I guess, kind of makes my theory correct, but also felt like they were kind of saying that the pregnancy issues existed all along, which doesn't make much sense to me. However, I'm cool with this answer, but my whole elaborate theory was way awesomer.

Why did Desmond have a flash of Claire getting on the helicopter?**
Some people want to blame my boy, Desmond, and call him a liar because Claire never did get on a helicopter with baby Aaron and leave the Island. But, let me just explain some of the possibilities.

First, consider the possibility that Desmond did see Claire and Aaron get on a helicopter in his flashes. How do we know that Desmond's flashes were absolute? We don't. In fact, we know that they are just simply possible outcomes. For example, Desmond saw Charlie get struck by lightning and die. Then, he saw him drown trying to save Claire. Then, he saw him get hit in the throat by an arrow and die. Then, he saw him die again trying to catch a bird for Claire. None of these things actually ever happened. That's because none of them were set in stone. They were all possibilities, paths, that led Charlie to the same outcome, which was death, but none of them ever actually happened to him. Desmond also had a "flash" of Charlie swimming down, to an underwater hatch, which was flooded, where he then flipped a "switch" to save all of his friends. However, those details were not entirely accurate. It is possible that Desmond saving Charlie's life several times changed the outcome of certain things.

Next, let's look at the fact that a helicopter actually did leave the Island, with people, including Aaron, on it. It is entirely possible that Desmond could have seen that baby Aaron was on the helicopter, being held by someone, and he just assumed that it was Claire and Aaron. Why would he ever assume that Aaron would be there, on a helicopter, leaving the Island, without his mother? Anyone could have made that same mistake. We have to remember that Desmond only had "flashes" of these things, and that he didn't see every detail of his vision.

Now, there's a completely practical explanation for this whole thing that has nothing to even do with Desmond or the actual narrative of the show. It is possible that the writers intended to have Claire on that helicopter, and as one of the Oceanic 6, long before any of it actually happened. But, the simple truth is, Emelie de Raven was never going to be in Season Five of LOST, because of contractual issues, or whatever the reason was. That's why they had to write her off at the end of Season Four.

We can blame old Dessie, but the truth is, we never actually saw his flash, so no one can say that it didn't happen. This is just my take on the whole thing with Desmond and his flashes.

Who was in the outrigger canoe while they were jumping through time?
This is something that bothered me a little. When it happened, the big theory was that it was themselves. I, personally, thought that would have been pretty damn awesome. However, it probably wouldn't have made much sense, if at all. I mean, why would they shoot at themselves in the future if they already knew it was themselves? It couldn't be the past, because then it would have already happened. So, that answer, no matter how awesome it sounded in theory, didn't make much sense.

What makes me a little annoyed with the whole thing is that we never got any answer at all for the scene It was never even brought up again. So, why put it in there (The Little Prince) in the first place? It is possible that they meant to bring it up later, but just didn't have room to fit it in anywhere. But, still.

I heard, on Geronimo Jack's Beard, when they talked about a scene being cut, where Man in Black was the one who was shooting at them in the other canoe. That doesn't make much sense to me at all. Why would he shoot at the real John Locke, when he would need him alive so that he could die and come back to the Island, with the Man in Black taking over his body in order to con Ben into killing Jacob? It wouldn't make sense for him to try to kill him there. Maybe that's why they took it out. Because it was stupid.

Why can Hurley and Miles talk to the dead? 
I have no idea. I really don't. Maybe it's because they're special. Maybe it's because of the Island. I guess it doesn't really matter how they got the ability, just that they have it.

Speaking of seeing dead people. I've been watching a couple of random episodes when the mood strikes me, and I watched the episode Dave. I have a theory that, although Dave wasn't exactly real, that he was someone who was dead, that Hurley saw. I also think that he is Libby's husband that died, as she told Desmond about in Live Together, Die Alone. It doesn't really matter. I just think it's a cool idea. See? It's fun to go back and do those sorts of things.

What is the Island?*
I always thought that I wanted to know the answer to this question, but, by the end, I didn't. I was happy with not knowing. I know a lot of people were unsatisfied with the mysteries that they left, but I didn't feel that way at all. I like that it will forever be a mystery to me. I enjoy thinking about it. I don't need to know everything, because my imagination takes me to places that I know it would never allow me to go if everything was explained to me. I like knowing that the Island is a special, magical place, where miracles happen, and over-explaining that would just take all of the mystery of it away.

Questions that have been definitively answered:

• Why can't anyone find the Island?
• Who or what is the Smoke Monster?
• How was the Smoke Monster created?
• Why are all of these people connected?
• Who were Adam and Eve?
• What is the sickness?
• How did the Black Rock get to the middle of the Island?
• What exactly are the whispers?
• Why is Desmond special?
• When and how was the four-toed statue destroyed?
• Why doesn't Richard Alpert age?
• What are the rules and who created them?
• Who built the frozen donkey wheel?
• Why did the Oceanic 6 have to go back to the Island?
• Why did Jacob visit the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815?

Questions that they have answered (But some people just don't want to see it.):

• What about the Polar Bears?
• What happened to Shannon's inhalers?
• Why was Kate's toy plane so important?
• What about those damn numbers?
• What's up with that "Hurley" bird?
• What's Libby's story? Why was she in Santa Rosa?
• What happened to Ben's childhood girlfriend, Annie?
• How did that Ring Lady know everything?
• Why didn't Sun land in 1977 with the rest of them?
• Why did the writers make everything up as they went along? 

What about the Polar Bears?
The polar bears were brought to the Island by the DHARMA Initiative. There were used for Zoological Research at The Hydra Station, as told to us by Dr. Marvin Candle, all the way back in Season Two's episode Orientation. They also were used to turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel at The Orchid, as referenced in Season Four's episode Confirmed Dead, when Charlotte Staples Lewis found a DHARMA Initiative polar bear collar in Tunisia, the same place where Benjamin Linus landed after he turned the Frozen Donkey Wheel, as seen in The Shape of Things to Come.

Also, we found out more about the polar bears, which was completely unnecessary to me, by the way, and pretty much just states everything that I just said, in The New Man in Charge.

What happened to Shannon's inhalers?
Seriously? You're watching the wrong show.

Why was Kate's toy plane so important?
It was just sentimental. Get over it.

What about those damn numbers?
The numbers are bad! Okay, not really. But, seriously, what would an answer to that question really look like? Once again, it is seemingly unexplainable, and would probably sound extremely silly if it were over-explained. However, we do know some things about these numbers..

We found, in The LOST Experience, (Which was that first LOST Alternate Reality Game, that occurred between Season Two and Three, if you were paying close attention.) that the numbers were part of The Valenzetti Equation, which is the mathematical equation developed to predict the exact number of years and months until humanity extinguishes itself. The ARG also revealed an additional number to the equation, which was 64.

We also know that Hurley used those numbers, which he got from Leonard Simms, a man that heard a transmission of the numbers being repeated over and over, to win the lottery. The numbers continued to show up in Hurley's life and he deemed them as "cursed" because they followed him wherever he went and brought bad things to his life.

The numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) also add up to 108 (ha!), which is the number that would count down on the clock in The Swan hatch, which caused Desmond to type in the numbers to reset it, resulting in him "Just saving the World.", as Kelvin explained.

Those same numbers, which were transmitted from the Island, were numbers that Jacob gave his list of candidates, as seen in The Substitute. Those numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) were assigned to candidates that were all vital in the destruction of the Man in Black, who wanted to leave the Island, and would destroy the World outside of it as a result. John Locke was 4, Hugo Reyes was 8, James Ford was 15, Sayid Jarrah was 16, Jack Shephard was 23, and Sun and/or Jin Kwon were 42. My theory is that Kate Austen was supposed to be number 64, which was crossed out because she became a mother. I'm sticking with it.

So, with all of that, we can assume that the numbers, which were part of the Valenzetti Equation, and also attached to the people who were vital in "Saving the World," actually had significance. They were being "called" to the Island, by the numbers, because, well, "It only ends once. Everything that happens before that is just progress." I like it.

Also, here are two quotes from Damon Lindelof, which I found on Lostpedia..

"There are some questions that are very engaging and interesting, and then there are other questions that we have no interest whatsoever in answering. We call it the midi-chlorian debate, because at a certain point, explaining something mystical demystifies it. To try and have a character come and say, "Here is what the numbers mean," actually makes every usage of the numbers up to that point less interesting.

You can actually watch Star Wars now, and when Obi-Wan talks about the Force to Luke for the first time, it loses its luster because the Force has been explained as, sort of, little biological agents that are in your blood stream. So you go, "Oh, I liked Obi-Wan's version a lot better." Which in the case of our show is, "The numbers are bad luck, they keep popping up in Hurley's life, they appear on the island." ... But if you're watching the show for a detailed explanation of what the numbers mean—and I'm not saying you won't see more of them—then you will be disappointed by the end of Season Six." (In a May, 2008 interview with Kristin Dos Santos.)

"Here's the story with numbers. The Hanso Foundation that started the DHARMA Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to basically work on this equation to determine what was the probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma Initiative in an effort to try to change the variables in the equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe it itself out." (In a 2009 interview with E!.)

That is pretty much all we ever need to know about the damn numbers. I'm satisfied.

What's up with that "Hurley" bird?
It was just a damn bird. But, also, we found out, in The New Man in Charge, that the "Hurley" bird was a  genetically altered "Hy-Bird". I really don't care, and I never did.

What's Libby's story? Why was she in Santa Rosa?
Libby's husband died and she went crazy after giving Desmond her boat. Not every mystery is important.

What happened to Ben's childhood girlfriend, Annie?
She was just his damn childhood girlfriend. That's all. She left the Island. They never saw eachother again. I know. It's incredibly sad.

How did that Ring Lady know everything?
Eloise Hawking had the notebook that her son, Daniel Faraday, gave her before he died, on the Island, in 1977. That's how she knew everything she knew. Now, give me back that sodding ring.

Why didn't Sun land in 1977 with the rest of them?
In 316, Eloise Hawking said that the results would be unpredictable if they didn't completely recreate the original crash. Well, they didn't. So, it was unpredictable? Get it?

Why did the writers make everything up as they went along?
They didn't. Look, I don't believe that they had every single word written out before LOST even aired. That would not only be impossible, but it would be ridiculous as well. What I do believe is that they had all of the major things mapped out in advance. There are too many damn coincidences and things that tied together for me to not believe that. However, some people still don't think they knew what they were doing.

In order to see my point of view, you have to first allow yourself to have some perspective. Take a look at the big picture. If you go back and watch the entire series over, you will see how many things click into place. It's too obvious to be a mere coincidence. It is impossible to create a series of this magnitude, and with this complicated of a story, without knowing some direction that it was going.

If you take a look back on everything, every season had a theme, and a feel to it. Every season had a beginning, middle, and an end. They all had a purpose, and especially from mid-to-end of Season Three on, because that's when they knew they were going to get to steer the ship home. Can you blame them for stringing things along early-on? No. They didn't know how long they were going to have to map things out for. Besides, when I go back and watch those parts, I like them a whole lot more now.

"See ya in another life, brotha..."

Now. There had to be something that I was unhappy with. You're right. There was.
There were a few loose ends that I wish they would have tied up. None of them are overly important things. They're just little things that were left open-ended, and I really wanted to see them concluded. None of them are imperative to the story of LOST, so I'm okay with them not having been answered. But, at the same time, if I want to pick on something those couple of things bother me a little. But, only a little.

There are some things that I would have liked to have seen concluded..

Was Richard Malkin real or fake?
This puzzles me to no end. If he was a fake, why would he pay Claire to get on that plane? He didn't get anything from her. Maybe he sent her on the plane, knowing that it would crash, and she would survive, like Charlie said in Raised By Another. Maybe he worked for Jacob in some way, and that's why he sent Claire to the Island, because Aaron was special, and it was the only way that Claire would end up raising him. I'm not sure.

Why couldn't Sun give the damn Drive Shaft ring to Claire?
Seriously. They went out of their way to have Charlie put the damn ring in Aaron's cradle in the first place, in Greatest Hits, and then they abandoned it, only to come back to it, and have Sun discover it, in The Incident. Why couldn't she just give the damn ring to Claire so that Aaron could get it when they got off the Island? Really. I was yelling at Sun the whole damn time going, "Give the damn ring to Claire already!"

Why couldn't Desmond just hand Claire Charlie's "Greatest Hits" list?
They made it a point to give us an entire episode, Greatest Hits, which lead up to Charlie's death, and Desmond couldn't even hand Claire the damn paper in The Beginning of the End? I don't care if it was ruined because he swam down to The Looking Glass. It's the thought that counts. Come on now, Darlton.

These really are just some nit-picky things. I realize that not everything is perfect. But, that won't stop me from yelling at my television when I watch those parts.

And, after all of that, I still fucking loved every minute of it. I've stated my case, but really, some people still didn't like it, and they probalby never will. That's fine. You don't have to. What I really needed to do here was vent, and I did that, because it's my blog dammit. I can do what I want.

In Conclusion..
One of the things that I have loved about LOST is that it begs the questions and the mysterious that life brings to us all. People search for who they are as people. Are you a man of science, or are you a man of faith? We ask, "What does this all mean?" or "Why are we here?" or "What is the meaning of life?" LOST allows us to ponder these questions as well. I have always loved that.

It also made me a more intelligent television-viewer. Like I said before, I didn't watch much television before LOST came along. I still don't now. But, it did open my eyes up to new things and shows that I probably would have never watched before. I would have never loved Battlestar Galactica if it weren't for LOST.

I loved that it has challenged me to constantly think outside of the box, and to not be afraid to explore all the possibilities. This is something that I've always done, because I'm a curious person, but LOST made me want to do it more than ever. By being open to infinite possibility, it ultimately taught me how to have a positive outlook on life. I find these qualities that LOST brought on a consistent basis incredibly endearing.

Furthermore, I fully respect that it was their story. They told it. They did what they wanted. It wasn't a big "Fuck You!" to the audience. In fact, I believe that it was a big "Thank You." to the fans. Again, were you watching the same show that I was watching?

Look, I'm not going to force those you hated it to like it, but I also had to make my case because I've read a lot of things out there that were completely misinterpreted and uninformed, which just made me confused and angry. I started this entire thing, not for anyone else, but for me. Because I was the one up at night thinking about this shit. I think I started it to keep myself sane at the time. But, the thing is, I loved it, and this is my blog, so that's all that matters, right? I will say this, though. Allow yourself the possibility of liking it. If you don't do that, then it's your fault for hating it. Let the fear in. Let it take over. Let it do its thing. I can't believe I'm quoting Jack at the end of all this.

Anyway, I'm not going to defend LOST or the finale any further. I think that it should speak for itself. I thought that it was brilliant and absolutely beautiful. I personally felt that it was a giant loveletter to the fans of the show, and I have tremendous respect for Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and the risks that they took in doing what they did, and the fact that they stand by their story.  Look, the finale wasn't perfect, and neither was all of LOST, but, to me, it was more than I could have ever hoped for.

What is the future of this blog? Well, I'll tell you that also. 
My plan now is to go back and re-watch the entire Series of LOST, analyze it, and write about it in a different way than I've done already here. My main focus will be to go back and reflect on the entire Series as a whole, and write about the things that I liked and disliked, but also to look at it all having known where everything ends. I think that this is an important thing that we all should do, especially those who disliked it. I feel like I will go back and have a lot of revelatory moments about things that happened early in the Series, because of knowing where everything ends up. It will definitely be interesting to be able to tie everything together. To me, some of the things that happened throughout the story of LOST are too coincidental for them to have made it all up as they went along. I'm not saying that they definitely didn't, but, to be honest, I really don't care anymore. That being said, I will definitely write about all those things that tied together.

Beyond that, I plan to do some writing about specific theories that I had throughout my viewing of LOST, thoughts that I had early on in the first few Seasons, and especially things that I was completely wrong about. I will also do some "Best Of" or "Greatest Hits" lists, talking about some of the great moments in LOST. There will also possibly, be some character analysis, where I will talk about the arc of certain characters. I think these are all interesting and fun ideas to keep the mind going now that it's all over.

Oh my Jacob. It has taken me so fucking long to finish this fucking post that I hate it by now. Thanks for putting up with me if you've actually read this far.

The one year anniversary of the end of LOST will be coming up on May 23rd, so I figured what better time to begin my re-watch than on that date. I look forward to experiencing all of this all over again. See you then.