[The Canadian Content]

Yeah, my immediate reaction is similar. I'll let it simmer overnight, but I feel pretty ripped off at the moment.

[DevSop]

I loved it. I never cared about the mysteries of the island or what certain things meant. I loved the show because of the characters and the finale, more than anything gave closure to the characters and their stories. You can say the purgatory/heaven story is a copout but I think it's the best explanation you can give for the island and what it was. But the fact is we got to see every individual character's story close and they were all closed how they were meant to be. If you want to go all the way back, Lost has always been a love story. Penny/Desmond were the constant and then everything grew out of that. Charlie/Claire, Sayid/Shannon, Sawyer/Juliet, Ben/Locke, and Jack/Kate and all of them got the satisfying ending they needed.

MTA: The island being real and the flash sideways being purgatory doesn't change anything for me, because as I said the key for me were the characters. And to me, I got completely satisfying endings for each and every character.

[OpTard]

May 23, 2010 22:33:14 GMT -5 Sportsguy said:

So where do I go to get reimbursed for all the fucking time I wasted on that piece of shit show? 6 fucking years for THAT?

May 23, 2010 22:37:31 GMT -5 The Canadian Content said:

Yeah, my immediate reaction is similar. I'll let it simmer overnight, but I feel pretty ripped off at the moment.

what exactly were you looking for?

[Deleted]

May 23, 2010 22:33:14 GMT -5 Sportsguy said:

So where do I go to get reimbursed for all the fucking time I wasted on that piece of shit show? 6 fucking years for THAT?

I couldn't disagree more. I thought that entire finale was... perfect.

And Dev summed it up exactly as I would. On top of that, they left a lot of things open to interpretation while solidly closing out the show. I thought it was possibly the most poetic bit of entertainment I've ever been privy to.

[The Canadian Content]

I'm not angry about it. Just annoyed. Seems like they left a lot unanswered, and the "we don't feel we should have to explain it" line seems like a combination of "it's not our fault you're not smart enough to figure it out" and "that stumped us, so we abandoned it".

And I'm not particularly annoyed at the finale itself, as I sort of figured they'd find a way to get everyone together again, and this was good enough. I'm annoyed at the whole season. I know not everyone cared about every little mystery, but I sort of do, and I don't see the point of bringing them up in the first place if they're not going to be resolved. This entire season seemed like a lot of treading water and killing time waiting for the HUGE FINALE EVENT THAT YOU CAN'T MISS, which turned out to be not very interesting or meaningful to me. I feel that time could have been better spent explaining and clarifying things.

Best part of the show: Hurley's "I've got a bad feeling about this."

[Deleted]

Out of curiosity: what "unanswered" items are you most disappointed about?

[The Canadian Content]

Off the top of my head, what's the deal with Walt's special powers, why did Widmore get kicked off the island, why are those specific numbers significant, what's the story behind Jacob's fake mother?

There are others, but I haven't had enough coffee to come up with them.

[Deleted]

And the entire series is seriously ruined for you because these items were left unanswered?

[OpTard]

here's my question. what effect does ANY of those questions have on the story of jack, kate, sawyer, hurley, etc.?

i'd love to have those answers, but in the grand scheme of this narrative they are irrelevant.

[Deleted]

Ziggy and I agree whole-heartedly for once.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

May 24, 2010 7:52:08 GMT -5 The Canadian Content said:

Best part of the show: Hurley's "I've got a bad feeling about this."

And Jack's "See you in the other life bruddah" line to Desmond. And I loved Jack and Locke looking down the hole like they did with the hatch.

I'll echo Sop's post. To me the show has always been character-driven first with story/plot second and all you can really ask for in a series finale is closure with the characters. I think we got that and I liked the full circle aspect with the show starting with Jack opening his eyes and ending with him closing them.

My only gripe was we still never learned why Desmond was the one who linked the sideways world with the real one. I'm not complaining since he was my 2nd favorite character but I would have liked that fleshed out a bit more.

[ALL CAPS]

May 24, 2010 8:07:31 GMT -5 The Canadian Content said:

What's the deal with Walt's special powers,

The same deal that's with Hugo's and Miles'. Some people on LOST have special powers.

Why did Widmore get kicked off the island,

I'd always assumes (although it was never spelled out) that Whidmore simply wanted power and when his intent to exploit the island became clear, they kicked him off the island. Unfortunately, most of this information comes through BEn, who has built a reputation of not being trusted. But that doesn't mean he's lying all the time. This seems to me to be the best explanation.

why are those specific numbers significant,

I don't know what you're looking for specifically, but of those numbers, they were the degrees assigned to each candidate on Jacob's lighthouse watching mirror device thing. They were also the key figures in the "Valansetti Equation", a mathematical construct designed to predict the end of the world. Aside from those, if you're looking for some grand cosmic significance, I think that's too lofty and expectation. The LOST writers can't rewrite physics. I think they were simply saying these numbers just ARE important in the universe they created, for many reasons, and that they pop up a lot because they are important. It's no more circular than any other faith-based, unexplainable construct.

what's the story behind Jacob's fake mother?

The answer to that is: who gives a shit? Honestly. How far back do they have to go before you'll be satisfied? I don't mean that snarkily either. If they explain where she comes from, it'll lead to more questions about whatever they construct to explain her. There is no "origin" to LOST that'll ever satisfy. And a question like that is very insignificant in the light of the fact that the entire story has been about the events leading up to Jack's death. Why waste MORE time starting a tangential arc that diverges even farther from the point of the show?

I guess it can be argued that they spent an awful lot of time on tangential stuff by not revealing earlier that the point of the show was Jack's death... but I think it was an artistic decision to make that the final reveal. If the rumors were true, Jack was supposed to die in the pilot. Based on what we've seen in the finale, I wouldn't be surprised if his death in the pilot was originally intended to be revealed as some sort of foreshadowing. But that's all speculation.

[ALL CAPS]

May 24, 2010 8:54:03 GMT -5 The Jewish Cunthead said:

My only gripe was we still never learned why Desmond was the one who linked the sideways world with the real one. I'm not complaining since he was my 2nd favorite character but I would have liked that fleshed out a bit more.

He's the one that brought them all together on the island by crashing the plane. It only makes sense that he'd be the one to bring them all together after they're dead. Poetically speaking.

[Deleted]

May 24, 2010 8:54:52 GMT -5 ALL CAPS said:

If the rumors were true, Jack was supposed to die in the pilot. Based on what we've seen in the finale, I wouldn't be surprised if his death in the pilot was originally intended to be revealed as some sort of foreshadowing. But that's all speculation.

Or that the show would've revolved beginning-to-end on whichever other main character they would've gone with, instead.

[The Canadian Content]

May 24, 2010 8:54:52 GMT -5 ALL CAPS said:

May 24, 2010 8:07:31 GMT -5 The Canadian Content said:

What's the deal with Walt's special powers,

The same deal that's with Hugo's and Miles'. Some people on LOST have special powers.

I guess the Walt one bugs me more because they never really went into what his powers even were. It seemed like they put a heavy emphasis on Walt being important, then abandoned the character.

I'd always assumes (although it was never spelled out) that Whidmore simply wanted power and when his intent to exploit the island became clear, they kicked him off the island. Unfortunately, most of this information comes through BEn, who has built a reputation of not being trusted. But that doesn't mean he's lying all the time. This seems to me to be the best explanation.

I think they could have taken a few minutes to clarify it.

I don't know what you're looking for specifically, but of those numbers, they were the degrees assigned to each candidate on Jacob's lighthouse watching mirror device thing. They were also the key figures in the "Valansetti Equation", a mathematical construct designed to predict the end of the world. Aside from those, if you're looking for some grand cosmic significance, I think that's too lofty and expectation. The LOST writers can't rewrite physics. I think they were simply saying these numbers just ARE important in the universe they created, for many reasons, and that they pop up a lot because they are important. It's no more circular than any other faith-based, unexplainable construct.

I had forgotten about the equation, and the lighthouse explanation works for me, especially given how much the numbers meant to Hurley and where he ended up.

what's the story behind Jacob's fake mother?
The answer to that is: who gives a shit? Honestly. How far back do they have to go before you'll be satisfied? I don't mean that snarkily either. If they explain where she comes from, it'll lead to more questions about whatever they construct to explain her. There is no "origin" to LOST that'll ever satisfy. And a question like that is very insignificant in the light of the fact that the entire story has been about the events leading up to Jack's death. Why waste MORE time starting a tangential arc that diverges even farther from the point of the show?

I just don't see the point of adding yet another character with a mysterious past that never gets explained. She was unnecessary or, at least, poorly written.

And the whole series wasn't ruined for me at all. I still think it was more good than bad overall. One of my favourite series ever. I just don't like the way they handled some stuff, and I was disappointed with the last season as a whole.

[Deleted]

I thought she was very important to fleshing out the twins' backstory.

[DevSop]

I don't think you can blame the show for not explaining Walt's story. The kid grew 2 feet in between seasons 2 and 3. They just got stuck in a bad place with the actor so they abandoned his storyline. It sucks, but it happens.

[OpTard]

well, in the annoying jerkoffs' defense, when lost's timeline jumped ahead 3 years, they could've returned to walt's story, and they simply chose not to.

that being said, i don't care that they didn't return to walt's story and those people are annoying jerkoffs for obsessing over something that is ultimately irrelevant to the story. but it was still the writers choice.

[Deleted]

Well, they DID touch on it a tad when he was visited by "Jeremy Bentham".

[Beer Baron]

Well, for me, I enjoyed it and even though there were some old and new questions that either were never answered/pushed aside, as a finale goes, it was a very fitting ending. Hurley's "I got a bad feeling about this" was great. He was the star of that first 30 mins with a couple of other good lines. I loved when Miles and Richard found Lapidis in the water. Even though he was a secondary character, he was great and a solid character. There was so much to digest in this episode, that for me personally, I couldn't get to sleep.

The questions I still had were, so we are to assume that all of their spirits couldn't move on to...(I assume Heaven, only by the white light, or else there was a huge semi truck coming in) until they remembered their past on the island. Christian's line of "Some died before you and some after you."(something along those lines) means that the people who were left on the island: Hurley, Ben, Desmond. Ben did die but because he didn't go into the Church, he's obviously repenting for his life's misdeeds, ie stuck in limbo/purgatory. Hurley and Desmond died on the island shortly after? Hurley's line to Ben saying that he was a awesome #2, and Ben's of Hurley was a great #1. Assuming that they had adventures on the island for a few years after? Also I didn't see Miles/Lapidis/Richard in the church.

[OpTard]

now that you bring it up, i'd have to say if there was one thing i absolutely hated in the series as a whole it was the jeremy bentham angle. the way they all said that name in situations where they would've said locke, or the fact that they used that name so freely but started saying "locke" again as soon as the audience learned bentham's identity.

the whole thing was so forced. it was just stupid. why would walt visit hurley and tell him he was visited by jeremy bentham? why wouldn't he say locke? and lets just ignore the gaping plot hole of them showing locke's visit with walt and never mentioning the bentham thing once in the conversation. even taking that point aside walt would've still referred to him and locke.

also, they never gave a reason that it was important to refer to him as bentham instead of locke. nor did locke spend enough time with any one of the losties for them to even remember what his fake name might have been, let alone get accustomed to calling him by that name.

the entire thing was stupid and they could've found a better way to keep his identity secret. they shoulda just rocked pronouns all season.

i think i can honestly say i don't have a single other complaint about the show. curiosities? yes. but complaints, i don't think so. but i won't rule out someone mentioning something and me saying "oh yeah. what the fuck was with that shit?" but i don't think so.

[Beer Baron]

May 24, 2010 11:37:06 GMT -5 @gatorbait said:

Well, they DID touch on it a tad when he was visited by "Jeremy Bentham".

True. But I also seem to remember they had a far short of Giant Walt across the street and then a quick line or 2 close up when he was talking to Locke. They did a good job of not showing how much he really grew. The show got screwed over when Walt's growth spurt kicked in. Jimmy Kimmel said they should have cast Gary Coleman as Walt from the beginning.

[Demko]

I loved the finale, because it gave the characters a sense of completion. I, too, have always appreciated this show as a character study, and less of a plot/mystery driven show.

However, with that being said, I will say that the series as a whole, for me, has very little rewatchability, now that I know that none of the questions/mysteries brought up over the course of 5 seasons wound up being answered/solved in the final season. If I did try to re-watch it, I'd just be watching some random episode, and I'd get pissed off about why we never found out what the fuck was up with the Hurley Bird.

I like being able to re-watch a mystery series, knowing what's coming up, so that I can go back and put pieces together. Knowing now that the LOST writers didn't have it all mapped out from the very beginning (and despite what everyone in Hollywood is trying to push on you, they didn't), it's annoying to re-watch the episodes, knowing that there will never be any payoff.

As a character study, however, I think this series did wonders with what they had. They successfully pulled off just about every human emotion possible across the spectrum, and handled them all convincingly. I really did appreciate the full-circle ending, with Jack's eyes closing, with Vincent laying down next to him. That last bit actually brought me to a tear or two.

Overall, I think the writers did what they needed to do to finish this series off. I really wish they had sat down and planned it better, once they realized what kind of rabid OCD fanbase they had, with regards to plotholes and just overall storytelling.

[Deleted]

I actually thought they answered a good portion of the "questions" they left lingering out there. At least the big ones.

[Stu]

Just watched it and overall I liked it. I'm really in the "it's the journey, not the destination" camp about the show, even though there are still some unanswered questions already brought up from the the show overall, and in the finale. Such as how did Smokey suddenly become vulnerable to bullets? Was the Island falling apart supposedly robbing him of his power? Was it something he had to do himself? It just seemed really weird to build him up as unkillable for so long, then have him done in like that. Also the sideways timeline seemed to set up mysteries that are totally bypassed by the apparent afterlife explanation, like Kate being wanted (which they made that fake America's Most Wanted for to show at comic con), the Island being sunk, Anthony Cooper still being a con-man but also somehow nice to his Locke, where was Ecko, Christian's coffin going missing in the sideways reality making me think Smokey was lying about impersonating him in the regular one etc.
I still really liked the emotional ending and how everybody gets closure on their issues(though come on, Sayid ends up with Shannon instead of Nadia, because Shannon dated him for like a week on the Island? Really?), and that Sawyer and Juliet's thing wasn't brushed aside for him to go back with Kate.

May 24, 2010 8:54:52 GMT -5 ALL CAPS said:

Why did Widmore get kicked off the island,

I'd always assumes (although it was never spelled out) that Whidmore simply wanted power and when his intent to exploit the island became clear, they kicked him off the island. Unfortunately, most of this information comes through BEn, who has built a reputation of not being trusted. But that doesn't mean he's lying all the time. This seems to me to be the best explanation.

I don't think it's even as complicated as that. Ben just wanted to rule the island and threw a coup on Widmore. Widmore always later said that Ben stole leadership from him, and Ben didn't deny it. Maybe Ben did use Widmore's intent to exploit the island for that purpose, but I never looked into it anymore than that.