(If you’re a fan and haven’t watched it to the end, what are you waiting for? Go finish it then come back! Seriously, I’ll wait.)

(Back already? Cool. Proceed.)

Of all the pop-culture events that I’ve experienced in my adult life, probably to most affecting had to be when the final episode of Lost aired May 23, 2010. For me, it was a bit of a delay. I didn’t experience it with the rest of the world. I held off on watching it until the following Wednesday so that me and my brother could get on Xbox Live and experience it together. ( I live in England while my brother lives in Nevada. We were syncing our schedules for this)  Given that I was off for those three days, it wasn’t hard to assume what was an outside-media blackout, for fear that tidbits and such would be divulged. So Wednesday finally came around, my brother called and said ‘Let’s do this’. And we did. What followed in those 106 minutes were nothing short of heart wrenching and satisfying (I know there are plenty out there who would disagree). It’s now been over two weeks and I still find myself thinking about not just the ending, but what I really watched the show for. And now, I think the dust has settled enough for me to describe what it meant to me and its place in entertainment history.

Much has been said about the show that redefined Television for the foreseeable future. It was brilliant; it confused the hell out of people, etc. In fact, I find myself hard-pressed to think of a show that polarized its audience as much as Lost did. Most Television shows manage to find their audience and keep them for quite a time, losing some near the end due to fatigue or disinterest, with few managing to keep interest for the duration (MASH and Friends to name a few). Lost had an interesting habit of weeding out viewers by changing its storytelling, introducing new mysteries, new characters, or killing off well established ones. It was a show that required a real commitment if you were to really get something out of it all. Basically, the equivalent of Hitchcock’s no-late-admission policy during the release of Psycho. Either you were all in or out.

I remember the first episode I was exposed to was ‘Do No Harm’, the episode where Boone dies and Aaron is born. Great standalone episode, but it meant nothing to me without all that came before. Eventually, I got around to watching it and was instantly addicted. The premise was simple, but as with Lost, not everything is as it seems. It may have been simple, but it was thematically rich, with characters (many named after philosophers) that you could sympathize with. The Island was a character in and of itself, representing different things to different people. For Jack, it was a kind of prison; a bad dream he couldn’t wake up from. For Locke, it was freedom, it was faith, it was everything he had been looking for his entire life. The Island could be what you wanted it to be. The same could be said of the show itself. You either watched it for the drama, the mythology, the literary references, the symbolic parallels, the battle between good and evil, or all five. You could keep track of the compounding mysteries, follow the budding romances, or try and catch all the little references they put in. There really was something for everyone. Even the title itself was meant to evoke many things. Lost souls; people Lost on an island; or the feeling you felt after watching it. It was a densely layered show that drew from literature, history, movies, and mythology for inspiration. But none of it would’ve been compelling if it didn’t bring you characters that you became invested in. Characters you wanted to see redeemed and saved. Characters with off-Island everyday plights you could easily relate to. This I think was the heart and point of the show. But of course, that’s just my interpretation.

And now having come to its end, I find myself moved and inspired. One, I hope I’ll be able to write a story as original with characters as memorable. Two, I fully plan on rewatching all the previous seasons just to see it all again and catch what I missed. But three, I mourn the loss of so daring a show. Even if another one comes along soon, the comparisons will be inevitable and unavoidable. ‘The End’ made me cry, laugh, and feel elated at the same time. Every major character received their resolution. Jack finally made peace with his father. Evil was not allowed to prevail. What more could you ask from a favorite action-adventure-drama? Better yet, how many such shows provide such a stirring of emotions?

Looking back on season six and on the show as a whole, I can’t ignore the points where the producers messed up. There were many mysteries that were introduced, but just plain didn’t pan out. You can tell where some things were contrived to make things work. Even in season six, you got the feeling they wanted to put in new things, but changed their mind halfway because it really was getting time to close shop (I chock this up to it being the only way the writers knew how to write the show). I imagine there are fan theories to explain away all these anomalies. Yes, even I have a few. But for me, it wasn’t always about the mystery. There’s no way they could give an absolute explanation for everything, especially about the nature of the Island. You could even tell the writers were aware of this. Did it destroy them? No. At times, they turned it into a strength. Like they were saying, ‘Yes, we’re ambiguous. Yes, we don’t have an answer to everything. But we dare you to do better! We dare you to come up with your own answers!’ In fact, I dare anyone to try and balance the logistics that go into making a TV show (i.e. keeping and losing actors, writer’s strikes, filming schedules) with the challenge of putting out a full creative vision. Only book authors can attempt the latter and many of them can’t pull it off well. So to those naysayers out there, I say cut them some slack. If anything, all the flaws make it better. It was a show about flawed human beings created by possibly just as flawed human beings.  ‘Well why was Walt special? Who was the Mother? Why did the Man in Black turn into a smoke monster but Jack didn’t? Etc. etc.?’ For me, I’m okay with some mystery remaining. I think some things lose their magic if you learn what’s behind it. I know I only got through half of ‘Hannibal Rising’ before I realized that I never wanted to know this much about our favorite murdering cannibal with manners. Would I shun any answers? Probably not. I’m damned curious like that. But the answers were never what I thought the show was about.

So what was it about for me?

I watched Lost for its storytelling abilities. Overall, it was a balanced show that revealed as much as it needed to and kept so much back until it would matter. It was edge-of-your-seat at its best. Not to mention how it innovated its own format. It began simply with the flash-backs. Then in came the flash-forwards; a game changer to say the least. After that, its cousins flash-time travel and the now infamous flash-sideways. The fact that they managed to keep it cohesive throughout was nothing short of genius. 

I watched Lost for its themes about good and evil, fate vs. coincidence, and science or faith. It’s hard to pinpoint the shows stance on these issues, but with Lost, that’s expected. I think really it asked us to consider the many possibilities when all faiths and views come together. Its international cast even helped promote this. And of course, nothing personified this better than the survivors’ credo ‘Live Together, Die Alone’. 

Really though, as with most good television, I watched Lost for the characters. I watched as they evolved and grew from the strangers in a plane they used to be. Strangers that were content to move on through life without knowing their fellow passengers, but in the end, were ultimately enriched by their time together in this life and the next. I watched as Sawyer grew from the surly, suave, con-man to someone you could count on not just to be resourceful, but to be caring and vulnerable as well (which I think is harder to accomplish). I watched the tragedy of John Locke; an unextraordinary man who couldn’t fully cope with the extraordinary situations he encountered, though not for lack of trying. I watched as Ben (possibly my favorite character) turned from the manipulative, calculating, lying leader he used to be to breakdown and realize that he was responsible for his own state. He even managed to be honest about who he was and truly apologized for his actions. I watched as Jack became humbled and realized his abilities could only get him so far. That he was, at the end of the day, a simple man, and that there was nothing wrong with that. In the end, it was just enough to save the ones he loved.

Do I wonder how the people who flew home turned out? Of course, but I’m sure they turned out fine. Do I wonder about the aftermath the Man in Black’s death had on the Island. Of course I do. Do I wonder about all the unanswered questions? Of course. But all good stories have to end somewhere. I really think it all ended the only way it could’ve ended. It wasn’t ‘Lord of the Rings’. I didn’t expect a full extra hour of aftermath and resolution. Those endings are reserved for war stories where we need to know the war didn’t kill the character’s soul in the process. For the characters of Lost, it was a redemption story. And with that view, I was satisfied with how it all turned out. Now I mourn the loss of a show that made me think, made me feel, and straight inspired me. I hope to write something just as moving.

While television tends to have the reputation of being nothing but pulp (and let’s face it, most of it is), I think Lost looked to elevate it further into a legitimate art form that is relevant and has substance. Books make us think; movies do as well. So why not television as well? In the end, Lost made me look at its characters and wonder how I can learn from their mistakes; how I can life this life to its fullest. With that much to wonder, I think it’s safe to say my six year investment in Lost wasn’t for nothing. I can only hope others felt the same way.

Goodbye Lost.