XiaoSu Han
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 25, 2008
- Messages
- 686
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 16
Found this somewhere, posted by "James Hughes"
I like it.
Why "The End" Was The Greatest Finale Of The Modern Era
Too often, TV shows try to give us a finale that panders to the safe zone of simply showing the lead character going on to live a happy life having fulfilled their objectives. And the question has been on the horizon for some time nowhow on earth could the creators of Lost end this story?
Well, they did so, by giving us one of the most intelligent, moving, and brave endings in TV history. After the woeful Across The Sea is was debatable that they could actually pull it off, and I for one was not expecting much from the finale. But boy was I wrong, and heres why:
1) The show refused to bend to the fanatics who wanted answers about the Island.
Yes, I know there are those of you out there that were disappointed because you didnt get Island answers. But you are missing the point. As they have continued to hammer home to us since season 1, this has never been a story about the Island, it is a story about the people. That is why throughout all six seasons we spent more time off island than on it. If this was a story about the Island the writers would never have left it. And yet they couldve easily thrown some answers in there to keep you happy but it would have been irrelevant to the Lost story. It could have been set on a mountain range or in caves, it was ALWAYS a story about PEOPLE that were LOST and needing to FIND THEMSELVES. That one thing that makes them feel whole, their destiny, and in most cases it was each other. Why Jacob had a thing for numbers is irrelevant. Thats his business.
2) The Biggest Answers Were All Answered.
*a) Why exactly was Jack brought to the Island? To sacrifice his life to save it.
b) Why was Kate brought to the Island? To kill Locke.
c) Why was Hurley brought to the Island? To become Jacob.
d) What Is The Off Island World That We Keep Seeing? A place of denial in which they had to be forced into seeing what had really happened to them all.*
3) Some Of The Greatest Scenes In TV History.
*a) Sawyer and Juliet At The Vending Machine - was quite simply of the best written scenes that have ever been filmed in any medium.
b) Charlie and Clare Finding Each Other Incredibly powerful and full of meaning.
c) Jin and Sun Remembering They remembered dying, which was a big clue as to what was about to come in the closing ten minutes.
d) Jack In The Light The look of disbelief on Jacks face when he thought it hadnt worked, to the one of utter and complete joy of having fulfilled his destiny when he saw the water trickling down was a stunning scene. Not one word of dialogue and yet it conveyed a thousand words. Truly magnificent.*
4) The Two Huge Twists
*a) That The Alternate Reality Wasnt A Reality At All Never saw this one coming and yet it makes perfect sense and resonates.
b) That It Was Actually Hurley That Was Meant To Be Jacob Jack seemed to always know this. He never spoke of doing the job for a long time. He knew, like Jacob did, that he was here for a reason. In the Lighthouse, Jacob said Jack was here to do something = ONE SINGULAR EVENT. And that he has to figure that out on his own. When the Island was falling apart, Jack knew what his destiny was, to sacrifice his life to protect the Island so the real Jacob (Hurley) can stay on and protect it. For Jacob to make Hurley the guardian any earlier would have been to expose him to Locke, and it was always Jacobs trump card.
5) The Island Survives
When Hurley and Ben eventually die, we can assume that Hurley found his own candidates and passed on the Jacob role to someone else. It is still important and people will continue to go there to find themselves when they are lost.
6) Island Answers Left Open
This was a masterstroke because it allows everybody to do what they have always done = interpret the answers their own way. By leaving them open, the writers have created a legacy that will continue to be discussed and debated for many many years. If they had spent season 6 answering Island questions then there would be nothing left to discuss when the show ends. It would have been all too easy and common place to answer these now. Leaving them open has left the mysteries of the Island in the hands of us viewers. The Island is a different story, it is not the 'lost story'. *
7) The Perfect Last Image
*To book-end the story with what we saw in the opening image of season 1 was the right way to end Lost. And yes, this is where Jack died. Not in the original plane crash, and not when the bomb went off. For Jacks character to come full circle, he had to sacrifice his life to save the Island, and when hed achieved this, the Island was done with him. Brilliant last image and could not have been better. When he closed his eye, he died. Jack was no longer lost, hed found his destiny.* The End.
Yes there were actually 2 stories running side by side throughout all six seasons:
1) THE STORY OF THE LOSTIES
This was ALWAYS the real story of LOST. When Jack Shepherd's eye opens in the Pilot, our own lives
change. We see the carnage, we see the need for help, we see the 48 flawed human beings, and we see
the need for connection. Then for the first two seasons we experience just how lost these people are
through some of the greatest use of flashbacks ever seen. And all of these flashbacks are OFF-ISLAND.
Their lives have been an array of mis-direction and in some cases an abuse of free will. There is an
emptiness inside them, a feeling that their path is not their destiny. As the story unfolds, they begin to
realise they need EACH OTHER to chose a better path. One in which they can put their hand on their
heart and say this is what I am meant to do. These are the people I am supposed to know. Can you
look out of your own window and truly say this is your destiny? This existence you live is the one you
were born for?
For most, that destiny is finding the person you are supposed to be with. The connection that makes
you complete.
For others, it is a destiny of action. A singular moment that they were born for. A moment when it
arrives, they know in their hearts this is what Ill be remembered for:
- Kate's destiny was to kill the Man In Black. And the death of Sun and Jin pushed her in this direction.
It made her realise her true calling.
- Hurley was meant to be the protector of the Island. It took Jacks sacrifice to make him realise this.
- And Jack himself, whose story we mainly focused on, finally realised his true destiny was to sacrifice
himself to save the Island. Jacob never fully explained the light. But Jack knew it was important and he
sacrificed his life to protect it. That is the ultimate Act Of Faith, from the Man Of Science. Jack from
the earlier seasons would never have done this. He would be too busy asking questions. But our Jack
had learnt to let go. When he lay dying in the jungle, he didn't cry, he didnt reflect on regrets. He
smiled. He'd found his destiny. He was no longer lost.
2) THE STORY OF THE ISLAND
Running alongside our MAIN story was the story of our location. Our losties were on an Island that has
been here for thousands of years, and thanks to Jack, will be here for thousands of more. But in
lifespan of the Island, our Losties were only here for the blink of an eye. So we were never going to
fully understand the Island.
At various points the stories would merge: Polar Bear running through the jungle, the discovery of the
hatches, the Dharma Initiative, Jacob and MIB. But the full scale of what this Island is and why the light
is there is a DIFFERENT story. When the paths cross, we see the mysteries. But the answers do not
progress our MAIN story of the Losties.
In the Story of the Island, the Smoke Monster is important. How he came to be. His real powers. But in
our MAIN story of the Losties, the smoke monster is simply another obstacle to overcome in the pursuit
of their destiny.
Why the Dharma Initiative conducted all those experiments. Why the Others took the children. Why
Women cannot have children on the Island. Is all subplot. It is all background story that only needs to
be answered if it is important to our MAIN story. The Island story and its full history is huge, but it was
never the story our writers were telling.
However, other creators aware of the growing interest in the Island's history, would have sacrificed
their own end game, to try and satisfy this thirst for knowledge. But the result would have been one of
endless exposition. Instead they stuck to their guns and did not deviate from their MAIN story.
It is not about the beach we sit on. It is not about the ocean we gaze out to. It is not about the Statue
that rises behind us. It is not about Egyptian Hieroglyphs on a wall.
Destiny lies within. It is about the people we meet. The connections we make. And how each and
every one of us is lost until we find them.
I like it.
