A Polar(bear?)izing Finale: LOST

For days after the finale I saw a variety of two kinds of Facebook statuses, either: "best show ever" or "thanks for wasting the last 6 years of my life". I am sure that many friends and families had bitter discussions about what happened and if the series was worth their time. I am still trying to convince my brother that the LOST finale not only did not waste his time, but wrapped up the show in the best way possible. He still won't budge.

I will admit that the "purgatory" story line was much more of a goodbye than a finale but since the show has weighed much more heavily on the characters than the plot, I was more than willing to sit through as many hours as it took to say goodbye to some of my favorite TV characters. I will be the first to say that Jin, Sun and Kate are three of my least favorite characters and I openly rooted for their demise in many episodes. However, I was genuinely touched by their "awakenings" off-island. Many shows have a "clips" episode where they show some of their favorite moments from earlier episodes and to me they feel very stale. If I wanted to watch that scene I would just go back and watch the f#$king episode! But LOST took you back in such a powerful way that I almost wish each person's awakening lasted a little longer. All the moments we witnessed were essential to the physical and emotional growth of the characters as we got to know them. They were touching and the helped promote what the show has been saying since episode 1: EVERYONE IS DAMAGED, EVERYONE HAS ISSUES, SO LET GO, FORGIVE YOURSELF/OTHERS AND CHANGE! But many viewers were more wrapped up in the mysteries than the message.

The answers (or lack thereof) are where people start to get upset with the show. If you went into the finale saying, "well they better answer this or that" then you were no doubt going to be let down. If you want a show where you know exactly what happened in each episode and why, then watch HOUSE or SCRUBS. People, you are complaining about a show were a giant bird flies overhead and yells one of the characters names for jacob's-sake! Of course they are not going to answer why in the hell that happened. You want to know why? Because the answer you have in your' head in most likely better that what the writers would have written. I have spent six years formulating absurd theories about what was happening in LOST, if they answered all the questions that they have raised then what the hell would I do with my spare time? In the end the show is about how you interact with the people in your life and that nothing is ruined forever. I am certainly excited to see what projects the writers move on to next even though I have a feeling we will never see anything like LOST again. So keep debating what happened and feel free to comment. In the wise words of Jimmy Kimmel "I have no idea what happened in LOST but I have no problem telling you your theories are wrong."

-Justin-