As we discussed in Part I, if you accept all the religious imagery as overt and not symbolic, then the “moving on” obviously means the passing to heaven or hell. With the redemption experienced by all of those who arrived in the church (on a side note, I loved the cryptic line from Jin to Sawyer, “We’ll see you there”), they’re headed to heaven; however, Linus can’t enter the church, meaning that his destination is still very much in doubt, with atonement still needing to take place on his part.
After circling the coffin and working up the strength to open it, Jack finally comes to the realization -- with the help of his own personal Obi-Wan Kenobi, his aptly named father, Christian Shephard -- that he has died. The coffin itself symbolizes the death of his other, “island” life, and the fact that his father is there is fitting in the sense that Jack’s life has largely been about redeeming his relationship with his Dad. I found the dialogue here vague to the point where it was obvious that the producers designed it that way; phrases like, “Everyone dies sometime” and “You all needed each other” come across as pure copouts, which is where some of the minor fanbase outrage comes from.
In my view, these folks made the island together in their mind’s eyes, as a place to ensure that no one died alone on the plane, without a purpose to their lives. Similar to “Shutter Island,” I think it’s possible that the dead survivors created this scenario in purgatory as an attempt to find meaning in their lives … they fabricated this adventure tale as a vehicle and a platform to demonstrate that they can address their flaws. The island has been referred to as a means to an end elsewhere, and I think that would be logical in this context.
However, the whole go-to-the-light stuff was a bit too in-your-face, obvious and literal to avoid being cheesy. In that sense, Jack returning to the bamboo where the show started, laying in the same spot, having Vincent lick his hand, and having his eye slowly close, was partly copout and partly poetic beauty.
“This would be so sweet if we weren’t all about to die.”
I’ll start off by saying, with “an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality” (thanks, Costanza), that I found the dawning realizations of alternate connections simply and utterly beautiful. The goodbye scene between Jack and Kate was very moving and emotional as well.
That being said, the incestuous relationships on the island were more than a little creepy. Jack was with Juliet on the island and in the flash-sideways; she was, in fact, the mother of his son, David, even though they divorced. Jack was also with Kate (sort of) on the island and off the island, when they raised Aaron together, but Jack’s inner pull to the island and fear of Kate’s past and secret eventually deteriorates him and activates his self-destructive impulses. In the end, Jack winds up with the bad girl (Kate) instead of the good girl (Juliet), partly because he is drawn to those he can fix and partly because he and Kate were kindred souls from their very first moments on the island, when she literally and figuratively helps to put a broken Jack back together again.
Sawyer was with Juliet in Dharmaville 1974, before she died thanks to the hydrogen bomb, and they are reunited in the flash-sideways over a vending machine. He was also with Kate on the island, sharing moments of passion fueled by their inherent questionable pasts and natures. In the end, echoing his life, Sawyer ends up with the good girl (Juliet) instead of the bad girl (Kate), with Juliet teaching him what unconditional love really is, something he never learned from his dysfunctional parents before they died.
These intertwined love and lust stories led Jimmy Kimmel to quip that they were stranded on some kind of wife-swapping Hedonism island after all.
At its core, “Lost” is a character study, an examination of relationships, which is reflected by the ending, when we see Jack-Kate, Sawyer-Juliet, Sun-Jin, Sayid-Shannon, Charlie-Claire, Hurley-Libby, Penny-Desmond, Bernard-Rose (and even Daniel-Charlotte in the flash-sideways) all reunited in the church.
In my mind, the relationship progressions and character evolutions were and always will be the most underrated aspect of “Lost.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a pilot.”
On the other hand, some of the coincidences and overlooks that were rampant in the finale certainly went a long way toward eroding fan faith in some quarters. You have Richard Alpert and Frank Lapidis mysteriously -- and somewhat conveniently -- alive. Richard, after seeing his own gray hair, suddenly decides that he wants to live, while finding a bobbing Lapidis amidst the wreckage of the destroyed submarine allows the mission to change from destroying the plane to flying it to safety and rescue.
I found the re-introduction of Shannon and Boone almost unbelievably awkward, and it was made worse when Sayid quickly shrugs off his pining over Nadia to get with Shannon, who just stands around looking moony-eyed. Boone coming back was a nice nod to his death in the early days of the show, but perhaps he could have had a more significant role than getting the shit kicked out of him so a swarthy Iranian torturer can start bagging his sister? And if you’re going to bring back dead folks, how about Nikki (yes, please) and Paulo? For that matter, didn’t Miles/Enos end up stealing Nikki and Paulo’s treasure at one point? Whatever happened with that?
Also, who were the skeletons in the source cave? What the hell role did Eloise Hawking/Widmore play in the flash-sideways, with her cryptic warnings that didn’t amount to anything? Claire seemed to go from Bat-Shit Crazy to Contemplative Wise rather quickly thanks to Kate’s words, didn’t she? I loved the re-intro of Bernard, Rose and Vincent, and I appreciate their desire to “stay out of the drama,” but it would have been nice to see them a bit more, no? And that was a rather quick backstage delivery of Aaron, right? And Jack seemed to get more done after taking a knife to the kidney than most folks do in their entire lives, or is it just me?
I guess these are liberties that had to be taken in order to get to the finish line, and I get that. But damn … no Walt, Michael or Mr. Eko for the junkies?
[Editor's Note: Stay tuned for Part III, since it's impossible to talk about a six-year show ending with a two-and-a-half-hour finale in one post. Giddyup.]
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