SPOILER ALERT! If you have not yet seen the last episode of Lost, read no further (if you care about knowing what happens)
So the last episode of LOST has come and gone, and what have we learned? Well, we learned that the surviving Losties saved the island and closed Pandora's Box and made all well with the universe, and then died and went to a place where their plane never crashed and all their dreams came true. Or something like that. I guess its better than just cutting to black?
Truthfully, as finales go, I didn't think it was a bad one, and they did answer a pretty good helping of questions, considering how many they brought up. However, they still left some unanswered, as I gather was the intent. Here are a few of mine. They fall into two categories. The first are about the show in general, and I don't know that these questions went unanswered so much as I don't know the answers, so if anyone does, please feel free to chime in. The second group are about the "resolution." Here goes.
General Questions
Why did Kate get all the best lines in the finale?
This is not really a question so much as an observation. I particularly enjoyed "I saved you a bullet," and "Christian Shepard? Really?"
If Jacob couldn't leave the island, how did he visit all of the "candidates" pre-Oceanic 815 in order to, well, make them candidates, I guess?
I'm sure there is an answer to this one out there, but I'll be damned if I know what it is. Anyone?
Why did Jacob choose those individuals in the first place? And why did he assign them those particular numbers. And what did those numbers mean anyway?
I understand that the answers to these questions may be found on the Season 6 DVD. Maybe they need a couple more months to figure it out?
If you pulled the cork out of that wine bottle, the wine would spill out, and it wouldn't spill back in if you replaced the cork. Why did the "light" come back?
and...
Jacob supposedly brought people to the island as potential candidates. Why couldn't Richard replace him? If Jacob brought Oceanic 815 down, why did we see that it was a result of Desmond failing to punch in the numbers?
Again, it may be that these things were explained along the way, I just didn't catch it if they were.I'm sure I could come up with more, but I am MUCH more interested in exploring the "Flash Sideways" resolution. Here are my questions on that:
OK, so the Flash Sideways is some kind of Limbo, gateway to Heaven, whatever, and they can all be there at the same time because everybody dies at some point, right? SO:
Flash Sideways Questions
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?
Are we to understand that Aaron lives a full life to a ripe old age and dies, only to have to spend his initial time in the afterlife as a newborn baby because a bunch of his mom's friends would have liked it that way?
And what about Ji Yeon? When she dies, she has to go back to being a FETUS!!!
WHAT ABOUT HURLEY?
Everybody dies, right? Not Hurley. He's immortal. We must assume that at some point, somebody killed him. Wouldn't you think that would warrant some discussion with Ben beyond just "You were a great number two, you were a great number one?"WHAT ABOUT BEN?
And what about Ben, for that matter? He has to wait outside, I guess because he was such a pill to the Losties most of the time. But why can't he have his tearful reunion with his father? Is there an "Others" church next door that he will be heading to?WHAT ABOUT LETTING GO?
So my understanding is that the point of the Flash Sideways was that the dead Losties had to learn to let go before they could move on. That's why, for example, Locke had to agree to the surgery before he could move on. But what did, say, Sun and Jin let go of? Or Claire? Or Charlie? He had to be knocked out and dragged to the final "venue."WHAT ABOUT CHARLIE?
Speaking of Charlie, he had kind of a crappy Limbo experience, didn't he? Everyone else kind of got their fantasy, but Charlie's first experience is choking on a bag of heroin! How is that fair?I'm sure there's more, but that should be enough to get y'all started...
4 comments:
Great questions! I'm really only going to address the last one about Charlie because it's the one I thought about the most. I believe the lives of the characters in the flash sideways, gateway to the afterlife, say a lot about how they think of themselves. Some of them were searching redemption, others were wallowing in guilt, others kept their lives more or less the same because they knew it lead to an end that was desirable (for instance Clair's life is exactly the same because without the crappy experience of having your baby daddy leave you, she wouldn't have had Aaron and couldn't have met Charlie). Charlie never thought of himself as the best sort of guy so he created a life that's even more rockstarish than his real one. Kate also kept her life the same, still a wanted criminal, saying she doesn't feel she deserves a happy alternate life. Juliet felt she did deserve a happy life and always wanted a child so she created such a life as a doctor with a son. Conveniently Jack was seeking closure for how his own father treated him so he created a life with a son (one he shared with Juliet) so he could become the father he wanted his father to be (also in this universe he can fix any spinal injury because he needs to be able to fix EVERYTHING.) Sawyer said it himself that he was on the path to becoming a criminal and decided to become a cop instead (though still searching for the man who caused his parents' deaths.) This was Sawyer's path to redemption. Locke, very messed up over being paralyzed by his father, created a life where his father was a loving person and he turned him into a vegetable. He took on the guilt he felt his father should’ve had felt and made it a justifiable reason to stay in his wheelchair. But he obviously felt he deserved some happiness because he made himself engaged to whatsherface. Hurley thinks very well of himself as you can see through his luckiest man in the world life. Ben didn’t think well enough of himself to create a happy life for himself, but he did set up a scenario where he could redeem himself with Rouseau and her daughter. Jin and Sun created a life where they never got married so they escaped their time trapped in a horrible marriage. Sayid didn’t think highly of himself so he created a life not too different from his first, but this one he created a reason why he couldn’t marry Nadia (because she’s already married to his brother). Maybe that’s to protect her or maybe it’s to keep himself single so he can find Shannon (I never really got the whole “Sayid and Shannon” thing). Desmond, thinking well of himself, creates a world where Penny’s dad admires him greatly as opposed to reality. I know I haven’t explained all the characters (such as Annalisa, Miles, Charlotte, etc.), mostly the ones who haven’t “awakened” yet, but I think I covered all the main characters. What interested me was that clearly Eloise has awakened and is trying her best to keep her son Daniel from remembering the life in which she killed him.
Thanks for the input, Kelly! I really like this theory, actually, although it sort of brings up an interesting point. Jack needed to "let go" to move on, and I guess what the show focused on was his need to let go of his father, but wasn't his real tragic flaw that need you speak of to fix everything? Judging from his persistence with regard to Locke's spinal surgery, I'm not sure he ever really let that go...
But it was his supposed "flaw" of needing to fix everything that made him the best candidate to replace Jacob and save the island (though one could argue had he not sent Desmond down into the light to pull the giant plug, nothing would've happened, and the island wouldn't have needed saving.) Doesn’t every hero suffer from some compulsive need to fix/save/help? Maybe in the end Jack did let go because he couldn’t fix being dead. Then again maybe I’m bsing.
Maybe. Good bsing though!
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