Lostwatch: All of This Matters - by James Poniewozik - Tuned In - TIME.com | re Lost series finale, The End - - [ Comments - 160+ -- p1 2 3 4 ]

The puzzle of the last season of Lost has been: how can both the flash-sideways universe and the Island universe mean anything? If Sideways is the universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashed, who cares what happens on the Island? If the Island is where the characters' fates are sealed, how can there be any meaning to what happens in the Sideways? The moving, soulful finale that Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse gave us met that challenge. The Island world, we learned, absolutely mattered to the physical fate of the survivors. (And sci-fi purists ticked over the spiritual ending should at least give it up for this: what happened, did, indeed happen.) And the Sideways world mattered because it was the culmination of the spiritual, moral, human lives--the souls--of the characters.
You could argue that the Flash Sideways was entirely unnecessary. You know what? You would be right. On a plot level, you did not need it at all. It had no direct bearing on what happened on the Island. It turned out that, unlike what some of us thought (including maybe Island Desmond), Sideways Desmond's efforts to "awaken" his friends had no bearing on saving the Island or defeating Locke. You could have simply picked up season six in 2007, had everyone realize that Juliet's smacking the bomb did not undo the Oceanic crash, and ended the series with Jack dying and a few of his friends escaping. right. good. that's the ending "minus"the purgatory-sideways-afterlife. (as per rg: what's the latest that happened minus the purgatory :)
You could, but you would have given up an emotionally powerful ending.
The spirituality of wh bothered this secular agnostic not one bit. To me, the closing of Lost was not telling me that I do or do not have an immortal soul; it was telling me what these characters lives meant. And that meaning, like all our lives' meaning, derived from the interactions they had with, and the memories they shared with, other people. You could take that literally, as in: this is a picture of what happens when you die. Or you could take it metaphorically, as in: this is a story using spiritual imagery to depict the lasting legacy of human contact.


-I adored it. Phenomenal.
-Epic finale. Beautifully, beautifully done.
-I thought it was fantastic.


-It seemed that they borrowed the endings from "Sixth Sense" and "Titanic." yes! Sixth Sense. you (& the viewers) have to realize you have died. (Titanic I don't know wh bcs never saw it but maybe the penul epsd Jin & Sun dying. or was there an afterlife in that movie too?)

-Who created the alternate world?
--It's up to you really. You can believe Hurley is responsible based on his convo with Ben or you can also believe this is how things naturally work. ohhh. I only tht re how things naturally work. did not think of possible relevance of what Hurley & Ben said, re allowing people to leave the island. whoa. that actually *is* suggestive of the whole thing as an afterlife, isn't it?
-Ben said to Hugo he could run things differently than Jacob. Earlier in the season, Michael said he could never leave the Island because of the things he had done. I think that comment was not meant to be taken lightly (do you find it interesting that Ben couldn't leave either?). I think Hugo changed things, created the sideways world so that those from the flight *could* in fact leave purgatory and go on together.I'm going to believe that Hugo made it so that they could go on together, because as Ben said he did what he does best: care about people. y aw remember how he bought up the seats on the Ajira flight to prevent more people from ending up on the island or dead in the crash. Certainly, he (with Desmond) was calling the shots in Purgatory world. huh!
What a great ending.
---I also thought that Hurley was the one who created it - the whole thing about him "doing things differently" and "taking care of people" all made me believe that Hurley created a safe place for all the Losties to go and work things out and find happiness with each other, so then they could all Live Together after they Die Alone. wow. okay cool. and maybe does not have to suggest that the island was already afterlife ~ well so let's say the island is totally real, in this life; but it is a source or contact point w life/death ~ or sth ~ such that Hurley can affect what happens to the souls of his friends in the afterlife. well I don't know. will want to listen to that Hurley & Ben 'convo': apropos of what did Ben say that Hurley could do things differently & ~let ppl leave? (what exactly was said there ~ does it sound like talking wrt souls?) I think I took it as meaning he could make the island easier to get off of. for the living people who end up there.

ok see: Todd Van Der Werff, LA Times' Showtracker: Interesting theory--"This flash-sideways universe is one final gift from the last protector of the Island that we see--Hurley--to everyone he ever knew or loved. It is a chance for him to do what he does best, as Ben says. He is taking care of people, giving them both what they wanted and what they needed." ToddVdW shld have an eloquent read of this.

[Tuned In 5/24 watch-together-judge-alone-what-everyone-else-thought-of-losts-the-end]

-des1989: I'm still not sure what purpose the Man in Black served. How would things have turned out differently if he left the island? What, exactly, were the stakes? y that's a qstn

and back up in JmsP's post:
I have questions: first, if in fact the Sideways does not exist in the mortal world, then what did it mean when Juliet said the H-bomb detonation "worked"? All it evidently did was kicked the Losties from 1977 to 2007. right. exactly: that's all that evidently was caused there (whether by the h-bomb or if the bomb did not even actually detonate then just 'the incident' ie drilling into electromagnetic pocket > white flash) With the Island safe and no Man in Black, why, how, did Hurley ever die? Why exactly did Locke become mortal?

*Locke on Jacob's choice of Jack: "I expected to be more surprised. You're kind of the obvious choice, don't you think?"

..And it made perfect sense that Jack, who was meant to die at the end of the original version of the Lost pilot, instead die at the end of the series.

-thalasseri: Lost may have borrowed a lot of ideas (from Stephen King and others) over the years, but the alternate-world, as a congregation point for connected souls to sync up before moving on together (rather than as a purgatory entered and left as individuals) seems quite original and a wonderful extension of the live together, die alone motif that was the driving force of this whole story. yes.
Desmond's role is puzzling - he essentially "traveled" back from the afterworld into real-Island time - and things didn't work out as he thought they would, when he uncorked the light-stopper. Lots of angles to explore there, such as how this action made Smoke mortal again.

-antilles13: Absolutely loved it.

-Dave: At this point, looking back at it, one of the top lines for me was awakened Kate looking Jack in the eye and saying, so sincerely, "I've missed you so much!"
--Which is a completely sensible thing for someone who hasn't seen Jack in a very long time to say. She lived for a while after Jack died.
--I agree. They were definitely two of my least favorite characters, but this line spoke so well to what the flash-sideways world was. yes. Kate went on and likely lived a full life. This line was one of the few comments about this time. She didn't give us anything concrete, but we know she missed Jack. It was touching. y. she did look him in the eye and say it so sincerely.

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