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Just finished watching the finale of Lost and now, half-watching the self-congratulatory pre-finale. Prior to discussing the spoilery bits, I thought I'd mention that this is not the huge big deal the network and mags like to think it is. Was discussing with Momster the other night, and she wanted to know if I knew anyone (outside of people on my live journal) who actually enjoyed or watched LOST. Does anyone at work watch it? Do you know anyone at church who does? Uh no. In fact my Aunts don't and most of my family doesn't. My Facebook page is rather safe. And no one my parents know outside of myself and possibly my brother watches it. (Nor are we really that into it. I rarely talk about it. Never been fannish about it, not like Buffy or BSG for that matter.) From my perspective, Lost was innovative and ground-breaking in only one way - its narrative structure and focus on anti-heroic or dark characters. The characters were all deeply flawed and somewhat anti-heroic at times. Often doing horrible things. And the narrative structure - was interesting, it was a combo of anthology and serial. The first two seasons did flashbacks plus present story. Each episode would have a flashback on one character or their life prior to the island, and at the same time their present on the island. The second season, did flashbacks for new characters. Then we got stories of the characters who managed to escape the island and their lives off it. And last season we got stories of those off island trying to get back on, while getting the stories of those stuck back in time on the island trying to get back to present day (which was a sort of twisted time travel tale). The narrative structure was not entirely linear and very difficult to maintain on tv.
I watched the show primarily for the characters and the bizarrely innovative narrative structure - which I haven't seen anyone successfully attempt on tv before. The plot at times, got sacrificed for the narrative structure. And often the science, philosophy and mythos got muddled. The writers appeared to blend Buddhism, Christian Mysticism, and the philosophies of John Lock and Hume. With the rules of backgammon thrown into the mix. As far as tv shows, books and movies go - I saw the references early on. Stephen King's The Stand clearly was an influence, as were more philosophical books such as Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men,
The Brothers Karmaozov, Ulysess by James Joyce, the Odyssey, Lord of the Flies, etc. The one's I mentioned have to do with the relationships between brothers and long voyages. Movies? Mysterious Island, King Kong, and Voyage of the Damned. There's also the failed 1970s tv series' starring Isac Eseniman and Roddy McDowell about a bunch of people stuck on a mystical island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Not to mention tv shows as wide ranging as Saving Grace, Dead Like Me, and Six Feet Under. The themes of Lost are not new, nor for that matter was the science or the mythology. Or even the plot. What was new about the series was how it attempted to combine an anthology format with a serial format - which is a bit different than the traditional episodic/serial format that we see with tv shows such as Buffy, Doctor Who, or Angel - where each week the main characters solve a mystery. Here - the mystery is the place they are stuck, and each week we are given a flashback in their own history, explaining why they were on the plane that crashed on the island. Very different format and one that has not really been tried on prime-time American Television. Also Lost may be amongst the few cult tv shows to hit mainstream audiences.
Like it or hate it - it did change how networks program tv shows - because of Lost, we got more science fiction/fantasy series, more innovative narrative structures, and more tv shows with anti-heroes or large ensemble casts. A nice change from the procedural/mystery of the week or
the show with one lead character. Lost in some respects expanded programming choices, much as Twin Peaks, Hill Street Blues, Homicide Life on the Streets, the Sopranoes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and others had before it.
As for the Finale? I liked it a lot better than I thought I would. The plot was a bit confusing, and the story didn't make a heck of a lot of sense, but I liked how each of the characters arcs were resolved. (And obviously plot isn't something I've ever cared all that much about, or I'd be watching Law and Order episodes, which put me to sleep.)
[Unknown site tag]
Had very low expectations. I was quite worried that the Sideways verse would be sucked into the Island verse, and the show would end cryptically with Lock/Smokey and Jack/Jacob sitting on a cliff chatting philosophy. Also it gave me four great character moments.
1. Juliet and Sawyer - once they met in Sideways verse, they were complete. They remembered the island. It was as if they'd found their soul mate. It was a perfect moment and the fact that it was by the vending machine, echoing Jack's inability to get that same candy bar out of it and Jacob helping him do it, yet here - Juliet aids Sawyer/James Ford.
2. Hugo and Benjamin Linus - Ben who tells Hugo how he can take care of the island. That he should do what he's always done, take care of people. And Hugo asks Ben if he can help him.
Loved what Ben told Hugo, that he didn't have to keep people on the island, that was Jacob's way, there had to be a better way - a way to help them find their way home, to move on.
This interaction is echoed in the Sideways verse - where Hugo thanks Ben for being his number 2, you were a great number 2.
3. Benjamin Linus and John Lock - Ben apologizes to John and John forgives him. Then Ben tells him that he no longer needs the wheelchair.
4. Lock and Jack....their fight on the island and their healing in the Sideways verse.
Probably helps that I was a Ben, Lock, Hugo, Sawyer, and Juliet shipper.
The story ended in a circle. Lost starts with Jack Shepard waking up in the bamboo forest, on his back, starring up at the sky, with the dog Vincent licking his face, after a plane crash. With the fuselage on the beach. And that's how we end. What is the Sideways verse? It's a sort of limbo or a place similar to the one seen in other tv series, such as Life on Mars (British Version). {An aside, while Life on Mars had a tighter and clearer plot arc - I got bored during it and kept falling asleep. Could just be that I'm burned out on cop shows.) Where we go until we are ready to move on. Some people believe that the soul has to let go of it's body and material existence before it can go home. And that's what limbo is. It's not purgatory (not a place of punishment) it's ...well another way of looking at it is a waiting room or place where you resolve those issues that hold you earthbound, tied to your life on earth.
So what is the island? Was it purgatory? Or was it simply earth? Not clear. Could be the real world. Christian Shepard tells Jack that everyone in the church died at different times. Some long before him, some long after. But they stayed until they could meet up and move on together.
Jin/Sun are together because they died at the same time. Sayid and Shannon had to find each other. James Ford and Juliet did as well. First Juliet found Jack, because they died closer together. And in the Sideways verse they resolved the issues that they had in the primeverse,
came to terms with those things that kept them tied to the earthly plain.
The mythos is very Christian and yes, I've read it and seen it done before. Reminds me a little of CS Lewis' novels actually.
There is a heavy theme of love entwined throughout - which neither Smokey nor Jacob seem to understand. Hugo and Ben who take Smokey and Jacob's place on the island, after Desmund Hume and Jack Shepard and John Lock make it possible for them to...seem to get this. That taking care of others...as opposed to enforcing your will upon them is the better option.
We aren't really told if Lapidus, Miles, Sawyer, Claire, Richard, and Kate get off the island.
I'm guessing they did. Not sure it matters, since they all eventually end up with Jack in the limbo verse anyhow.
The story begins and ends with Jack. Yet, he is not the central focus. And the book-ending does do a good job of covering some of the gapping plot holes - which are easily smoothed over by the whole, this may well be limbo and anything goes perspective.
As for the whole Smokey plot arc? I don't know what to make of it. Honestly, the above bit makes more sense if we ignore the Smokey sub-plot entirely. Didn't really like the Smokey sub-plot - it made no sense and when it did, was fairly cliche.
My guess is that Jacob and Smokey ruled one version of Limbo, which Smokey kept trying to leave, while Hugo and Ben ruled another, better version?? Nah, I don't like that interpretation.
OR better yet, Jacob and Smokey ruled a real place, while the Sideways verse was the place that everyone went to after it? A sort of limbo? At any rate, I think Jacob won the game with Smokey, when he had Juliet blow up the bomb and create a parallel limbo. Assuming that's what happened. It's a tad confusing. Did everyone die when the bomb blew up and end up in limbo?
And if so, why did we get the whole island verse story? Or did the bomb create the limbo world?
Or did they all die on the plane crash and meet each other in limbo and another limbo was created? Or is the island real, and they go to limbo once they die, after being on the island, which serves as a sort of pseudo Garden of Eden or gateway to limbo?
LOST, I'm guessing, is one of those shows that I'm not sure makes much sense if you think about the plot too hard. Better just to go with the flow. Otherwise you'll just give yourself a headache. Plot? What plot? Fuck that. Cool characters who achieve a peaceful ending.
I watched the show primarily for the characters and the bizarrely innovative narrative structure - which I haven't seen anyone successfully attempt on tv before. The plot at times, got sacrificed for the narrative structure. And often the science, philosophy and mythos got muddled. The writers appeared to blend Buddhism, Christian Mysticism, and the philosophies of John Lock and Hume. With the rules of backgammon thrown into the mix. As far as tv shows, books and movies go - I saw the references early on. Stephen King's The Stand clearly was an influence, as were more philosophical books such as Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men,
The Brothers Karmaozov, Ulysess by James Joyce, the Odyssey, Lord of the Flies, etc. The one's I mentioned have to do with the relationships between brothers and long voyages. Movies? Mysterious Island, King Kong, and Voyage of the Damned. There's also the failed 1970s tv series' starring Isac Eseniman and Roddy McDowell about a bunch of people stuck on a mystical island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Not to mention tv shows as wide ranging as Saving Grace, Dead Like Me, and Six Feet Under. The themes of Lost are not new, nor for that matter was the science or the mythology. Or even the plot. What was new about the series was how it attempted to combine an anthology format with a serial format - which is a bit different than the traditional episodic/serial format that we see with tv shows such as Buffy, Doctor Who, or Angel - where each week the main characters solve a mystery. Here - the mystery is the place they are stuck, and each week we are given a flashback in their own history, explaining why they were on the plane that crashed on the island. Very different format and one that has not really been tried on prime-time American Television. Also Lost may be amongst the few cult tv shows to hit mainstream audiences.
Like it or hate it - it did change how networks program tv shows - because of Lost, we got more science fiction/fantasy series, more innovative narrative structures, and more tv shows with anti-heroes or large ensemble casts. A nice change from the procedural/mystery of the week or
the show with one lead character. Lost in some respects expanded programming choices, much as Twin Peaks, Hill Street Blues, Homicide Life on the Streets, the Sopranoes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and others had before it.
As for the Finale? I liked it a lot better than I thought I would. The plot was a bit confusing, and the story didn't make a heck of a lot of sense, but I liked how each of the characters arcs were resolved. (And obviously plot isn't something I've ever cared all that much about, or I'd be watching Law and Order episodes, which put me to sleep.)
[Unknown site tag]
Had very low expectations. I was quite worried that the Sideways verse would be sucked into the Island verse, and the show would end cryptically with Lock/Smokey and Jack/Jacob sitting on a cliff chatting philosophy. Also it gave me four great character moments.
1. Juliet and Sawyer - once they met in Sideways verse, they were complete. They remembered the island. It was as if they'd found their soul mate. It was a perfect moment and the fact that it was by the vending machine, echoing Jack's inability to get that same candy bar out of it and Jacob helping him do it, yet here - Juliet aids Sawyer/James Ford.
2. Hugo and Benjamin Linus - Ben who tells Hugo how he can take care of the island. That he should do what he's always done, take care of people. And Hugo asks Ben if he can help him.
Loved what Ben told Hugo, that he didn't have to keep people on the island, that was Jacob's way, there had to be a better way - a way to help them find their way home, to move on.
This interaction is echoed in the Sideways verse - where Hugo thanks Ben for being his number 2, you were a great number 2.
3. Benjamin Linus and John Lock - Ben apologizes to John and John forgives him. Then Ben tells him that he no longer needs the wheelchair.
4. Lock and Jack....their fight on the island and their healing in the Sideways verse.
Probably helps that I was a Ben, Lock, Hugo, Sawyer, and Juliet shipper.
The story ended in a circle. Lost starts with Jack Shepard waking up in the bamboo forest, on his back, starring up at the sky, with the dog Vincent licking his face, after a plane crash. With the fuselage on the beach. And that's how we end. What is the Sideways verse? It's a sort of limbo or a place similar to the one seen in other tv series, such as Life on Mars (British Version). {An aside, while Life on Mars had a tighter and clearer plot arc - I got bored during it and kept falling asleep. Could just be that I'm burned out on cop shows.) Where we go until we are ready to move on. Some people believe that the soul has to let go of it's body and material existence before it can go home. And that's what limbo is. It's not purgatory (not a place of punishment) it's ...well another way of looking at it is a waiting room or place where you resolve those issues that hold you earthbound, tied to your life on earth.
So what is the island? Was it purgatory? Or was it simply earth? Not clear. Could be the real world. Christian Shepard tells Jack that everyone in the church died at different times. Some long before him, some long after. But they stayed until they could meet up and move on together.
Jin/Sun are together because they died at the same time. Sayid and Shannon had to find each other. James Ford and Juliet did as well. First Juliet found Jack, because they died closer together. And in the Sideways verse they resolved the issues that they had in the primeverse,
came to terms with those things that kept them tied to the earthly plain.
The mythos is very Christian and yes, I've read it and seen it done before. Reminds me a little of CS Lewis' novels actually.
There is a heavy theme of love entwined throughout - which neither Smokey nor Jacob seem to understand. Hugo and Ben who take Smokey and Jacob's place on the island, after Desmund Hume and Jack Shepard and John Lock make it possible for them to...seem to get this. That taking care of others...as opposed to enforcing your will upon them is the better option.
We aren't really told if Lapidus, Miles, Sawyer, Claire, Richard, and Kate get off the island.
I'm guessing they did. Not sure it matters, since they all eventually end up with Jack in the limbo verse anyhow.
The story begins and ends with Jack. Yet, he is not the central focus. And the book-ending does do a good job of covering some of the gapping plot holes - which are easily smoothed over by the whole, this may well be limbo and anything goes perspective.
As for the whole Smokey plot arc? I don't know what to make of it. Honestly, the above bit makes more sense if we ignore the Smokey sub-plot entirely. Didn't really like the Smokey sub-plot - it made no sense and when it did, was fairly cliche.
My guess is that Jacob and Smokey ruled one version of Limbo, which Smokey kept trying to leave, while Hugo and Ben ruled another, better version?? Nah, I don't like that interpretation.
OR better yet, Jacob and Smokey ruled a real place, while the Sideways verse was the place that everyone went to after it? A sort of limbo? At any rate, I think Jacob won the game with Smokey, when he had Juliet blow up the bomb and create a parallel limbo. Assuming that's what happened. It's a tad confusing. Did everyone die when the bomb blew up and end up in limbo?
And if so, why did we get the whole island verse story? Or did the bomb create the limbo world?
Or did they all die on the plane crash and meet each other in limbo and another limbo was created? Or is the island real, and they go to limbo once they die, after being on the island, which serves as a sort of pseudo Garden of Eden or gateway to limbo?
LOST, I'm guessing, is one of those shows that I'm not sure makes much sense if you think about the plot too hard. Better just to go with the flow. Otherwise you'll just give yourself a headache. Plot? What plot? Fuck that. Cool characters who achieve a peaceful ending.