This post is for Lost fans. Mostly for myself and a few friends I know love and watch the show. If you hate Lost or don’t watch it, you will probably be bored. You should go watch Lost then read this. And this will be long. I don’t really care, don’t read it if you get bored :)
Don’t read on if you don’t want to know how it all ends. I just wanted to post some theories and thoughts I have had and read about online that hopefully make some sense of the show.
First of all, I love Lost. I got sucked into it about the 3rd season I think. I got all caught up and have pretty much been obsessed ever since. Luckily some of my good friends also love it so we can talk about it! Dan wasn’t into it as much but he can always watch basketball :).
Anyway, we had a little Lost party at our house last night with a few friends. Of course I had to go all out and I did some decorating around the house. Dan acted like I was crazy, but I know he loved it. I’ll post pics of that later. We had a blast and after waiting with much anticipation, when it was all over last night, I felt confused, overwhelmed, sad and fulfilled. There were a lot of questions that were answered outright, a lot that were vaguely answered and open to interpretation and some questions that were never answered. Here are some tid-bits I found online that I like and agree with.
1. Smoke Monster: The man in black became the smoke monster when Jacob threw him into the light cave. Why didn't the light/tunnel turn Desmond and Jack into smoke monsters?
2. Hurley’s lottery numbers were assigned to the candidates, and the code used to enter in the the computer in the hatch. They were created by Jacob’s influence. When they showed the names on the list they each had a number next to them, with the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 each corresponding with the characters not crossed out.
3. The polar bears were part of the Dharma Initiative experiments.
4. Jack became the new Jacob/protector of the island, only so that he could defeat the MIB/Smoke Monster. Then Hurley took over as the protector because Jack ends up dying to save the island. He is successful and Hurley takes over as the island’s protector with Ben as his #2 (kind of like Richard Alpert was to Jacob).
Speaking of Ben, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed him getting a chance to finally serve a role of significance on the island he loved so much, as Hurley's number two. Part of me was disappointed that Jack was Jacob's replacement, as I thought Hurley would be more fitting... and Hurley got his chance after all, just before Jack went down to save the island from destruction.
5. Jack's cuts were reminders of the battle to the death with Smokey.
6. When Juliet detonated the bomb, two timelines began, each an outcome of the detonation of a hydrogen bomb in the previous season finale. In the first timeline, referred to as "flash sideways"
7. Everything that happened on the island was real, what was made up was the alternate universe or “flash sideways”. They all lived lives on the island, and formed these relationships. So when they all died, they made up a place to sort of wait for one another. So when they had all passed away, they were able to reunite before letting go and moving on.
Some people think they died in the original plane crash and they were dead the whole time, but I don’t believe this at all, especially after what Christian said to Jack about everyone dying at different times.
The Flash-Sideways was purgatory (AKA “spirit prison") where the characters went once they passed, but before they could "move on." For me, the key to this is what Locke says to Jack after surgery: "You don't have a son." Jack's son was created in his purgatory, in order to deal with his relationship with his own father. He needed to get past that before he could move on. All the other characters (in the church) weren't ready to move on until they remembered/realized the connections from their past life (the island).
It made me think that when we die, we will be with the people that matter the most, and to me that was the point of the last show. Seeing the smiles and relief from the characters, is I think the emotion we feel when death comes to a person,
The line that helped me understand the passage of time between the Island and their deaths, was when Kate said to Jack "I've missed you so much." She's missed him so much because he died on the island and she survived, got off and lived her life for however many years and then died and is now seeing him at the portal to the afterlife.
Christian pointed out that the time on the island was real and the people were all real. Everyone died at different times. Some before (Shannon, Libby etc) and some long after. For all we know Hurley could have lived on the island with Ben for 500 years. Lapedis and the folks on the planes could have made it back and lived out their lives... or they could have crashed on the way home. One thing was made clear, time holds no meaning once you die.
Of course there are still a lot of questions and here are some that I came across and have myself. I also included a few theories with the questions:
1. So what happened to Walt, Michael, Faraday, Charlotte, Whidmore, Mr. Eko, Rousseau, Alex, etc.?
Michael was still on the island because he couldn’t “let go”? Maybe that was the case with the others. And some people online say that they weren’t significant to Jack as much so they weren’t included. I dunno!
2. We were wondering and upset about why some of the people in the church didn’t have some of their other loved ones there, for example, Locke’s fiancée Helen?
Maybe he really was with her in the spirit world, but just left her for a little bit to be reunited/reminded about the island?
3. Why didn’t Ben go inside the church?
He is still alive and protecting the island? Or he is waiting for Alex and Rousseau to “let go” then he will go with them?
4. Did Jack actually have a son or not?
5. Who exactly is Elouise and how does she know so much? (She got them back to the island remember)
6. What’s up with the worn out shoe on the bamboo right before Jack dies?
7. Why was Penny in the church? She was never on the island.
8. Why was Charles Whidmore trying to destroy the island?
9. Who built that big wheel under the island that changes time? Why did they build it?
10. Was the purpose of pressing the button and entering the code related to the light? If so, how? Was the light related to the magnetic field? If not, what was the significance of that magnetic field?
11. Why was everyone in the beginning insisting that it was imperative for the survival of mankind that Clare keep her son Aaron rather than give him up for adoption?
12. What was the sickness that Danielle Rousseau talked about, the thing that made all her companions go mad and kill each other? How did that relate to the plot?
13. Why couldn't anyone on the island give birth to a live baby?
14. Why were the Others so set on killing the Oceanic survivors in the first place?
15. in exciting Season 1, why were the Others kidnapping the Losties with "lists" given to them by Ben?
16. What was Widmore up to? Why were there "rules" that he and Ben couldn't kill each other?
Finally, there was tons of symbolism in the show throughout the 6 seasons and a lot of religious undertones which I really enjoyed. I was worried it would turn into this weird religious show that would be upsetting. Luckily it had just enough religion in it to draw my own conclusions. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Jack’s father, Christian Shepherd “gathering the flock” for the final scene which was in a church.
2. When Jack walks in the church there's a Buddha, a menorah, various crosses and a Ganesh, plus the stained glass window which had the Crescent moon of Islam, the Buddhist Wheel of Righteousness, the Star of David and so on. Clear indications to me at least that the writers were attempting to transcend a single religious mythology to show the universal appeal of the reunion in the afterlife that is so prevalent in religious thought.
I think the best part is that the show had different meanings to different people. There is no simple black and white answer, it's all interpreted.
I was deeply moved by the finale’s larger point: connections matter. Our connections to one another, wherever and whenever they happen, can have profound and life-altering value. Life doesn’t give us all the answers and doesn’t always make sense.
Note: A lot of this information I took from various sites so it’s not all my writing or ideas. I just wanted to share and hopefully it helps some people! Please leave me a comment if you have any theories or answers to the questions I posted!
I definitely feel more satisfied with the finale today after reading through this stuff and thinking about it than I did last night after it ended. Lost was a great show and I loved that it brought people together to talk and discuss things and it really made you think. Now I just need to get all the seasons and convince Dan to watch them with me again!
