Lost Season 6 - The Final Season

[bob]

So there seem to be two camps of fans, character-over-island and island-mysteries-over-character. Seems as if the character-over-island fans got a better finale, as expected based on the producers statements that the people were the most important part all throughout the series. With a few exceptions (Sayid) things seemed to be pretty well resolved.

As a member of the island-mysteries-over-character camp, I think I would have enjoyed the show more if the following did not happen:

- The time traveling. In the overall story arc, doesn't seem too important and almost comes off as stalling to me.

- Widmore, or at least the storylines that made Widmore look like the central bad guy (or possibly good guy in the Ben vs. Widmore dynamic). Although you could argue this foreshadowed the Jacob vs Smokey dynamic.

I'm fine with everything not explained, such as the true nature of the island and how everything started. And I agree with Honolulu Blue that this was better than at least 95% of what is on tv.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by bob

Given that pulling the cork made Locke/smokey mortal, can it be assumed that when Hurley drank the water from Jack he didn't become immortal?

I actually think this is true by "my interpretation of the rules of the island", for what it's worth. Heart of the island was out so there is technically no protector. Then again, there is no one to protect it from either. But the Hurley/Ben flash sideways tells us that's not how things went down so whatever.

Originally Posted by bob

A few things that still bug me:

- Why was Locke/smokey suddenly mortal? And why did he not slit Jack's throat when he had the chance (knocked him out)? At that point, he was bleeding, so he seemed to realize he was mortal. I don't like when characters suddenly act differently for the convienence of the writers.

Again, I think it's inconsistent. But, yeah, heart of island out = "real world rules apply", heart of island in = "island rules in play".

SI

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

amusing (to me) that the one appearance of Ekko in the 2 hour recap was a brief flash of his hands in a scene. that dude must have really burned some bridges with the producers.

Eko Turned Down Finale Guest Spot | LOST Media Mentions

Lost's Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje--who played the iconic Mr. Eko--was offered a guest spot in last night's Lost series finale, but he...wait for it...turned it down.

According to ABC and Lost insiders, Adewale was offered a hearty sum to do one scene in the last hurrah, but the actor wanted five times the amount that was offered. It didn't work out.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

This pretty much sums up my feelings. It amazes me that people have been baited into this ending. They didn't explain anything. The only thing of significance that was given a resolution over the past two seasons was something that was introduced this season.

I completely agree.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

also a little disappointed the island wasn't explained better. then again, after the way it had been explained to date (something about making sure the light didn't get extinguished for the benefit of all mankind), it's probably good we were spared that mitoclorrean disaster

This was something my wife and I were talking about during the clip show. I was trying to enumerate things I didn't want explained because of what I called the "mitochlorian problem". Basically, things that were adequately enough explained, and here's the important part, *within the rules of the show* that they need no further explanation.

Everyone would have been ok with that part of Eps 1-3 if we had just seen Obi Wan and Qui Gon saying "I've never felt a presence in the force anything like his before" rather than feeling the need to try and explain why the force is the force and not trying to explain by science what is inherently spiritual.

But where is the line? At what point do you accept "The island *is* the island" as a tautology rather than needing an explanation? The cases can be enumerated into a couple of categories like "a pair of points are tied together seemingly by coincidence but is hinted that there is a reason" or "a character explains all will be explained later to a question" and there are more. In short, tho, all of those add up to "an explanation is warranted is where the authors hint or tell you there would be an explanation forthcoming" and, (un)fortunately that's open to interpretation. The authors drew a different line than most fans and I'm sure that was done both in instances where they didn't think it was warranted but also at points when the explanation would be too hard or not good enough to overcome the mystery of it being left unexplained.

There's the old stage adage about "If you bring a gun onstage, it better be shot." Well, this show did what I hadn't really seen before. To keep the audience guessing, they started out the show with about 5 guns on stage and seemingly every time someone entered stage left, they put another gun or two on the table. Most were eventually fired but you didn't know where it was coming from or even who fired it sometimes. It was an interesting premise as a plot device but it is kindof disappointing that of the 100s of guns brought on stage, a good couple dozen were still left unfired including a couple really big, shiny ones and the cannon sitting in the middle of the stage ("what is the island"). So the overall track record was good for answering questions but it was still lacking.

Well, I've deconstructed this more than I should but I'll leave with this point:

Secretly I'm a little amused at this show. Yeah, it dealt with sweeping themes of morality and the afterlife. But a decent chunk of sci-fi that's out there deals with these same themes. I think some people who wouldn't normally tune into science fiction found themselves watching this with rapt attention because at first glance it looked like a survivor drama. Tho I think those were the ones that were turned off, in particular, by the last two seasons when the show veered hard from survivor drama with some light spiritual and paranormal elements to hardcore scifi (most of season 5) before resting squarely on religious allegory (season 5 finale onward).

I appreciated the growth of the scope of the show and, unlike some shows, I felt it was fairly well planned from the beginning. Yes, they had a big, new thematic focus every season, it seemed. However, they ran a fairly tight ship with keeping the plot consistent within the laws of the universe they constructed. Having parts of it unexplained is somewhat disappointing but par for the course. The closest thing I can compare this to is The X-Files finale? It was far worse about this but by then the show had become a shell of its former self. Lost was arguably in its prime and the show creators had enough moving plot parts out there to construct a good finale, even if fans were left wanting.

SI

[Draft Dodger]

did people really expect resolution though?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

did people really expect resolution though?

No, I didn't really expect much more than what we got.

As for the mysteries...

There’s a beauty to mystery that’s impossible to deny. Sometimes, it’s more alluring to luxuriate in a state of confusion than to actually find an answer to your questions.

Like watching a magician work. You want to know the answers, the secrets, but if you found them out, the show would be ruined and boring. As many questions as I had for this show, I accepted that leaving the mysteries would ultimately be more satisfying.

For example, even when people got an explanation: "The Numbers correspond with the numbers in Jacob's lighthouse for each of the candidates", they either seemed to ignore/forget about the explanation or didn't think it was enough.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think some people who wouldn't normally tune into science fiction found themselves watching this with rapt attention because at first glance it looked like a survivor drama.

And that's because....



ABC actually rejected Survivor twice, as James B. Stewart reports in DisneyWar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom. Later, at a retreat, Lloyd Braun, ABC’s entertainment chair at the time, “pitched an idea he called ‘Lost.’ He described the show as a cross between Cast Away, the 2000 movie staring Tom Hanks as a survivor on a desert island, and ‘Survivor.’”

In a review, The New Yorker reported that “‘Lost’ actually was inspired in part by ‘Survivor’—the idea came from Lloyd Braun, who used to be the chairman of ABC’s entertainment division. … Braun hired J. J. Abrams, the creator of ‘Alias’—another ABC show that steals minutes that don’t belong to it—and the co-creator of ‘Felicity,’ to develop the show, along with Damon Lindelof.”

[spleen1015]

Coming into the season, I was hoping for more resolution than we got. After reading the producer interviews as the season played out, I knew it wasn't going to be the resolution I was hoping for.

Early in the season, I think I posted here that I didn't think they would let us down in the end. Today, I feel let down in how the island story ended.

[Chubby]

I'm sure the people bitching about island mysteries will be happy with the dvd release.

[Swaggs]

I feel like the Richard episode (and later combined with the Jacob/MiB background episode) explained the island well enough for me. It is the cork that keeps good/free-will/etc. (whatever your interpretation) from disappearing and it has some type of electromagnetic forces that power it. That leaves things sufficiently answered, without having to spend valuable screen time on the actual science of "why?" for me.

The guardians of the island are essentially chosen by to maintain and protect the cork. And, men have been trying to discover, explore, and exploit the island for as long as it has existed.

I think the disappointment is kind of what SI was going for: it isn't strictly a drama or love story or sci fi or religious show -- it kind of dances in between. So, if you were looking for strictly a religious or sci-fi answer to some questions, it may not be there.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think some people who wouldn't normally tune into science fiction found themselves watching this with rapt attention because at first glance it looked like a survivor drama.

that's absolutely why I started watching.

and I would have greatly preferred that show.

[lordscarlet]

http://www.slate.com/id/2242745/entry/2254778/

One of the highlights for me:

Finally, did not Lost's creators promise again and again that the survivors of Oceanic 815 were not in purgatory? They did. So where do they get off making the whole sideways world of Season Six a purgatory in which the inhabitants must come to grips with their lives and deaths before they move on? I call this cheating!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

http://www.slate.com/id/2242745/entry/2254778/

One of the highlights for me:

I don't think it was cheating. Like pretty much everything else in the world: Some people liked it, some people hated it.

Personally, "Lost" left me pretty satisfied and overall happy.

I didn't feel betrayed or cheated or anything like that. It was a good yarn. Perfect? No, not by any means. But still damned good.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

http://www.slate.com/id/2242745/entry/2254778/

One of the highlights for me:

This is such a facile interpretation of what was said.

The producers said that the Island wasn't purgatory. It wasn't. I don't feel cheated about that in the least.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I don't think it was cheating. Like pretty much everything else in the world: Some people liked it, some people hated it.

Personally, "Lost" left me pretty satisfied and overall happy.

I didn't feel betrayed or cheated or anything like that. It was a good yarn. Perfect? No, not by any means. But still damned good.

I don't see how it's not cheating? They spent six seasons saying it's not purgatory. Then at the end they say, "See, it wasn't purgatory! Only that thing we just introduced is purgatory! We didn't lie to you. Oh, and by the way, it turns out that thing we just introduced is the only thing you should care about."

[Subby]

I thought the flash sideways ending was incredibly elegant. That whole part of the show was just brilliantly done this season.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Subby

I thought the flash sideways ending was incredibly elegant. That whole part of the show was just brilliantly done this season.

+1

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Everyone is dead in the side flash.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey32

Why was Ms. Hawkins able to see Desmond in the side flash? Is Daniel still alive?

It's hard to say why Ms. Hawkins knew what the Side Flash world was. She always seemed to "be in the know" in the real world. Perhaps she had her "awakening" moment when Daniel was born or at some point later on, before Desmond began his quest. She didn't want Desmond to wake his people up, because she was afraid she would lose her son again. She was more than happy to live in the "purgatory" world, a world in which she didn't gun down her own son. I think she, like Ben, became aware and decided that they weren't ready to "move on" to wherever, yet.

No one is still alive. Daniel died when he died. It was a pretty quick explanation by Jack's dad, but he told Jack that pretty much everyone there was dead. Some died before Jack (his dad, Son, Jin, Boone, Shannon, etc.) and some died after Jack (Hurley, Ben, Sawyer, Miles, Kate, Claire, etc.). It goes back to the whole time isn't linear idea and that everyone is sort of existing/dying at the same time.

That purgatory place was where the people went, regardless of when they died.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I don't see how it's not cheating? They spent six seasons saying it's not purgatory. Then at the end they say, "See, it wasn't purgatory! Only that thing we just introduced is purgatory! We didn't lie to you. Oh, and by the way, it turns out that thing we just introduced is the only thing you should care about."

How in the world is the sideways world the only thing people should care about? Absolutely not, the real world was the important part and the sideways world was there so that they would be ready to move on together.

[Chubby]

copy and pasted from a lost forum I read:

bruinonfire says:
May 24, 2010 at 3:25 am
Just consider for a moment what a satisfying ending would have looked like, if your main concern was the resolution of these mysteries. I mean what KIND of resolution you would have wanted, the FORM you would like to have seen.
Honestly, if what you’re looking for is a something akin to a point-by-point explanation of the how’s and why’s, what you’d end up getting is the sort of thing that pops up in a lot of mystery novels/movies, i.e. the detective gathering up all of the main players, laying out what is known, and filling in the gaps that give a complete picture.
Now, I’ll admit, I’m as much of a fan of a good puzzle-style, fair-play mystery as anyone, but I think LOST revealed itself to be WAY too big for that sort of thing. You would have needed the KING of all Deus ex Machinas–quite literally, a god figure sitting down and saying, “So, here’s what the island is, here’s what life’s all about, and here’s how YOUR lives intersected those two concepts…”–to pull it off.
Darlton jokingly referred to the “Joop Ending” in one of their podcasts as a sort of failsafe in case both of them died before the show’s completion. In it, Joop, a talking orangutan, would sit down in a big leather chair and explain each of the island’s mysteries in turn. Granted, I’d LOVE to see this as a DVD bonus feature, but that wouldn’t be satisfying, at least to me.
Think back to the Apollo space missions. Yeah, there’s a lot of cool science and engineering involved, and NASA’s given the world some pretty cool technology. But given the choice between deciphering every bit of printed material in NASA’s logs, and actually SEEING, EXPERIENCING Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, I’ll take that literally AWESOME moment of human accomplishment over a thorough understanding of the technology behind it any day.
I’m really sorry to hear that you’re disappointed. I am. And I don’t think that this is Ulysses, but nor do I think that this is a chick flick. Mysteries and all, this story was about sacrifice, community, and redemption.
And who knows? I’m still holding out hope for a LOST spin-off that expands on the Hurley-Sawyer roommate situation in New Otherton. Next week: Hurley’s brought home a new roommate–a puppy!–but when he finds out Sawyer’s allergic, can he keep the little scamp a secret?
Hilarity ensues…

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Subby

I thought the flash sideways ending was incredibly elegant. That whole part of the show was just brilliantly done this season.

Right, but what about the other five seasons?

Originally Posted by Chubby

How in the world is the sideways world the only thing people should care about? Absolutely not, the real world was the important part and the sideways world was there so that they would be ready to move on together.

Because they didn't give a shit about wrapping that world up at all. And because the pivotal moment of the show is wrapped around the "purgatory" timeline and not the "real life" timeline. They certainly made it feel that the whole island story was just a mechanism for telling the purgatory story.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Chubby

copy and pasted from a lost forum I read:

bruinonfire says:
May 24, 2010 at 3:25 am
Just consider for a moment what a satisfying ending would have looked like, if your main concern was the resolution of these mysteries. I mean what KIND of resolution you would have wanted, the FORM you would like to have seen.
Honestly, if what you’re looking for is a something akin to a point-by-point explanation of the how’s and why’s, what you’d end up getting is the sort of thing that pops up in a lot of mystery novels/movies, i.e. the detective gathering up all of the main players, laying out what is known, and filling in the gaps that give a complete picture.
Now, I’ll admit, I’m as much of a fan of a good puzzle-style, fair-play mystery as anyone, but I think LOST revealed itself to be WAY too big for that sort of thing. You would have needed the KING of all Deus ex Machinas–quite literally, a god figure sitting down and saying, “So, here’s what the island is, here’s what life’s all about, and here’s how YOUR lives intersected those two concepts…”–to pull it off.
Darlton jokingly referred to the “Joop Ending” in one of their podcasts as a sort of failsafe in case both of them died before the show’s completion. In it, Joop, a talking orangutan, would sit down in a big leather chair and explain each of the island’s mysteries in turn. Granted, I’d LOVE to see this as a DVD bonus feature, but that wouldn’t be satisfying, at least to me.
Think back to the Apollo space missions. Yeah, there’s a lot of cool science and engineering involved, and NASA’s given the world some pretty cool technology. But given the choice between deciphering every bit of printed material in NASA’s logs, and actually SEEING, EXPERIENCING Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, I’ll take that literally AWESOME moment of human accomplishment over a thorough understanding of the technology behind it any day.
I’m really sorry to hear that you’re disappointed. I am. And I don’t think that this is Ulysses, but nor do I think that this is a chick flick. Mysteries and all, this story was about sacrifice, community, and redemption.
And who knows? I’m still holding out hope for a LOST spin-off that expands on the Hurley-Sawyer roommate situation in New Otherton. Next week: Hurley’s brought home a new roommate–a puppy!–but when he finds out Sawyer’s allergic, can he keep the little scamp a secret?
Hilarity ensues…

My problem is largely how they got here. That they sucked us in for three or so seasons with the promises of answers to these mysteries. Then they kept stringing us along. This entire season I knew there wouldn't be a satisfactory ending. However, to think it needed to be wrapped up in a bow in those last two hours is ludicrous. They could have spent the last season or 1.5 seasons slowly pulling together all the mysteries. Instead they chose to introduce an entirely new plotline and largely leave all of the other mysteries untouched or poorly explained.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Right, but what about the other five seasons?



Because they didn't give a shit about wrapping that world up at all. And because the pivotal moment of the show is wrapped around the "purgatory" timeline and not the "real life" timeline. They certainly made it feel that the whole island story was just a mechanism for telling the purgatory story.

Did you even watch the show?

"Every question leads to another question".

Ok so Hurley took over the protector role with Ben as his number 2. What happened with them and who took over for Hurley? Who took over for that guy... They can't give a finite ending to the real world because one doesn't exist in Lost or real life. They answered what the sideways world was, everyone would be going apeshit if they didn't.

[Chubby]

lordscarlet in other words, you didn't get the Joop ending you wanted. I get it but just because you disagree with the answers they gave doens't mean they didn't provide them at all.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Did you even watch the show?

"Every question leads to another question".

Ok so Hurley took over the protector role with Ben as his number 2. What happened with them and who took over for Hurley? Who took over for that guy... They can't give a finite ending to the real world because one doesn't exist in Lost or real life. They answered what the sideways world was, everyone would be going apeshit if they didn't.

Yes, of course I did. Your example is pretty poor, if you ask me. Covering the sequence of who takes over is very different from, say, why can't women conceive and give birth on the island? Or what was with the time travel? Or why were the numbers all over the place? Etc, etc. Why do they even need to explain the sideways world? It was freaking just introduced -- why even have it?

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Chubby

copy and pasted from a lost forum I read:

Honestly, if what you’re looking for is a something akin to a point-by-point explanation of the how’s and why’s, what you’d end up getting is the sort of thing that pops up in a lot of mystery novels/movies, i.e. the detective gathering up all of the main players, laying out what is known, and filling in the gaps that give a complete picture.
Now, I’ll admit, I’m as much of a fan of a good puzzle-style, fair-play mystery as anyone, but I think LOST revealed itself to be WAY too big for that sort of thing. You would have needed the KING of all Deus ex Machinas–quite literally, a god figure sitting down and saying, “So, here’s what the island is, here’s what life’s all about, and here’s how YOUR lives intersected those two concepts…”

Ummm, that might seem a little more ridiculous and far-fetched if it wasn't exactly how they resolved the flash-sideways story, in all of five minutes.

[rafini]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I think she, like Ben, became aware and decided that they weren't ready to "move on" to wherever, yet.

I think that along that line he wants to stay behind to spend time with Rousseau and Alex, to be her "father" again.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Yes, of course I did. Your example is pretty poor, if you ask me. Covering the sequence of who takes over is very different from, say, why can't women conceive and give birth on the island? Or what was with the time travel? Or why were the numbers all over the place? Etc, etc. Why do they even need to explain the sideways world? It was freaking just introduced -- why even have it?

So, if in What They Died For, Jacob said a line about how he's stopped women from giving birth on the island because of his Mother issues, would you be satisfied?

If Ben explained that releasing some of "The Light" caused the island to skip around in time, would you be satisfied?

If during "The Lighthouse" Jacob had said "Those numbers are special to me because they represent you Candidates," would you have been satisfied?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Or why were the numbers all over the place?

This was explained. See, if even if you did get the answers to your questions, in all likelihood, they wouldn't have been sufficient for you.

Though, I do agree that it would have been nice if they put a little more effort into explaning some of the more interesting things than adding some of the things that didn't matter. The Flash Sideways part was great. I loved it. It provided the proper resolution for the characters. I am more talking about things like The Temple and other island side plots that didn't really go anywhere or seem all that necessary.

I think one of the reasons why "Lost" succeeded, where pretty much all of the "Lost" copies failed, was because "Lost" was more about the characters and had good, strong characters. The other shows just focused on the mysteries and that's not really enough.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

So, if in What They Died For, Jacob said a line about how he's stopped women from giving birth on the island because of his Mother issues, would you be satisfied?

If Ben explained that releasing some of "The Light" caused the island to skip around in time, would you be satisfied?

If during "The Lighthouse" Jacob had said "Those numbers are special to me because they represent you Candidates," would you have been satisfied?

He wants the show to be dumbed down for the masses like all the other shows, Lost wasn't like that and was what made it so good and special.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I think one of the reasons why "Lost" succeeded, where pretty much all of the "Lost" copies failed, was because "Lost" was more about the characters and had good, strong characters. The other shows just focused on the mysteries and that's not really enough.

See FlashForward.

When I look back on Lost, my favorite scenes are all about the characters. Charlie drowning. Desmond's phone call. Jack and Locke arguing about faith. Juliet's death.

I can tell you it wasn't the scene where Ghost Michael explained the whispers.

[BreizhManu]

I didn't liked the finale mainly cause I didn't like season 6 as a whole (for the answers it gave), but at least it was coherent with the rest of the season, so it could have been worse.

[timmynausea]

If you read screenwriting how to books, a lot of them say "don't ask existential questions." They say you need to present stories where your hero not only triumphs in the 3rd act, he needs to change the world. If you ask existential questions, you can't provide answers that will satisfy the audience that way.

So people are pissed because this show made them ask themselves why they are here. That's why the first season resonated the way it did, and a portion of the audience wants that to be satisfied by the show. Desmond said it in the first five minutes last night, "No one can tell you why you're here."

[thesloppy]

I think y'all are basically giving the producers too much credit and slack. Ghost Michael is a good example....there's no reason the 'answers' have to be given so un-eloquently, and that particularly clunky scene was a result of crappy writing, not the inevitable result and consequence of trying to answer remaining mysteries.

If you found the deus ex machina of Christian Shephard explaining how purgatory works, and sloppily tying up this seasons loose ends in the last 5 minutes of the show, a moving and compelling finale, then I don't get how you can turn around and say that it would be impossible to gracefully do the same with at least some of the show's pile of other, unresolved crap.

[BreizhManu]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I think one of the reasons why "Lost" succeeded, where pretty much all of the "Lost" copies failed, was because "Lost" was more about the characters and had good, strong characters. The other shows just focused on the mysteries and that's not really enough.

Well for me that's not the main reason, the main reason is that every season of Lost is extremely coherent with itself (something Flashforward completely fails to do).
They might have changed their focus from one season to another but at least every season had it's own coherency.

That makes a good show for me, not a great one a la "The Wire" or "The Shield" where the whole was coherent.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I also think that final shot was to reinforce that yes, the crash did happen

A follow up to this, as the images of the wreckage at the end seems to be confusing a lot of people.

It seems that ABC inserted this at the end of the American broadcast. I've heard that it was not in the international version (i.e. Canada), so I don't think the ending wreckage should be taken as part of the show.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Though, I do agree that it would have been nice if they put a little more effort into explaning some of the more interesting things than adding some of the things that didn't matter. The Flash Sideways part was great. I loved it. It provided the proper resolution for the characters. I am more talking about things like The Temple and other island side plots that didn't really go anywhere or seem all that necessary.

yep, why was the temple there? Why was Walt kidnapped? What were Ben and the Others doing on the island in those yellow houses?

too many things went nowhere

[Landshark44]

did they explain why it was necessary to set off a nuclear weapon last season? i have always wondered what that accompished....

it doesn't seem to be one of the questions that most people "need" answered, so i'm thinking i may have missed it's relevance in another episode...what happened when the bomb exploded? thanks...

[spleen1015]

My take on the bomb is that it sent everyone back to their proper timeline.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

yep, why was the temple there? Why was Walt kidnapped? What were Ben and the Others doing on the island in those yellow houses?

too many things went nowhere

I am not too terribly bothered by the idea of the Others and the whole Dharma Initiative. I like that DHARMA is this kind of tangential story that just kept getting whatthefuckier until it exploded. Or that the Others were folks just drawn to the Island for whatever reason and were protecting it how they thought they should. Kind of goes back to the whole MIB/Jacob origin story and their view of men and how they are horrible, etc.

Walt, I think, was their biggest mis-step. To be honest, I think they just got burned by a horrible growth spury by the actor that sort of trashed their plans in an unexpected sort of way. If they had been smarter about things, like knowing child actors age, for example, I think they could have pulled it off.

Wasn't there some black lady with mystic powers that had to see Walt? The Mother or something like that? Whatever happened with her? Did she just fade into bolivian like the rest of the Walt plotline?

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

The other named Bea? She was killed by Patchy, but yes, she faded into Bolivian.

I don't want my defenses of the finale to make it seem like I thought they did this whole last season perfectly. I've said before, there were many HUGE dropped plotlines (Widmore) that should have been given more respect.

I think that, accepting that, the finale was great.

You just have to learn to let go.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

The other named Bea? She was killed by Patchy, but yes, she faded into Bolivian.

Must have been one of the episodes I missed. I missed most of the Patchy stuff.

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

I don't want my defenses of the finale to make it seem like I thought they did this whole last season perfectly. I've said before, there were many HUGE dropped plotlines (Widmore) that should have been given more respect.

I think that, accepting that, the finale was great.

This is pretty much exactly where I come out on things.

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

You just have to learn to let go.

Yep. Just like John Locke...

[tyketime]

A nice bit of foreshadowing I found at Lostpedia:

When Juliet tells Sawyer the secret to get the candy bar out of the vending machine, she says you can unplug it and plug it back in again and its technically legal. This is what Desmond and Jack do with the Heart of the Island.

[timmynausea]

The early ratings are in:

Nielsen TV Ratings Sunday: 60 Minutes ratings, Lost finale ratings, The Simpsons finale Ratings, 'Til Death ratings, Family Guy finale ratings, Cleveland Show finale Ratings, Celebrity Apprentice finale ratings, CSI ratings, Brooks & Dunn The Last Rodeo ratings, Minute To Win It ratings - TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.com

Around 13 million total viewers (up from around 9-10 most of the season,) but the 5.8 in 18-49 is pretty good. It basically would put Lost only behind American Idol (in the 6.0-6.8 range the past few weeks) on a normal week. Lost rarely cracks the top 20 in total viewers lately, but has remained in the top 7-10 for the key demographic.

To put that in some perspective, even though Dancing with the Stars has outdone American Idol a few times this year in terms of total viewers, Idol charges roughly 3-4x as much for advertising because it dominates the key demographic. (Basically old people watch DwtS.)

[Sun Tzu]

I spent the last 3 months watching every single episode, and timed so I would be watching last nights finale just hours after watching the second to last episode. This meant everything was *very* fresh in my mind, and I didn't have to deal with listening to everyone elses whining.

I thought it was a perfectly fine ending. I wouldn't give it a 10/10, but I think a 9/10 is fair. I was, like most, fairly disappointed in the Sayid ending. I was also never really crazy about Juliet, and was hoping that Kate and Sawyer would finally wind up together.

The religious overtones of the finale were a bit much for me too, but I looked past it for the sake of closure.

[Easy Mac]

I'm just sad about Vincent. I guess all dogs don't go to heaven.

[timmynausea]

Little bit more on the ratings. The last half an hour apparently went up by 2.5 million to 15.5:

20.5 Million Watch At Least Six Minutes of LOST Finale - TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.com

[Sun Tzu]

Also, in case any of you were wondering where the chirping sound for the "black smoke"...

It's a bird out here in Hawai'i, and there are tons of them all around my house. It's kind of freaky hearing it at random times throughout the day, but I also feel kind of special for experiencing it first hand all the time

The Man in Black still has yet to show up at my door though...still waiting.