The Official "Lost" the series discussion

[Deberg_1990]

I figured I would start a thread for this and see what happens....there seemed to be quite a few viewers on the board for this show the past few weeks.....I like the direction the show is taking so far......episode 3 tonight at 7 central on ABC....

[Baby Lee]

I mentioned on another thread how I came to the epiphany that Lost was the new 'It.' And AVClub goes and encapsulates my thoughts in it's opening sentence.

Originally Posted by AVCLub

I was chatting with a fellow TV critic a couple of weeks ago and told her that when it comes to the majority of genre fiction, I like the first four-fifths of any story far more than the finish. I love detective fiction and policiers, but once Harry Bosch or whoever puts all the pieces together and stands gun-to-gun with the bad guy, my eyes tend to glaze. (It’s the same reason I stopped doing Sudoku puzzles after a while; once I did the hard work early on, the rest felt too much like accounting.)

I did enjoy the epiphanies of the characters, but that was acting more than plotting.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'm going to bed guys, but all of the signs point to this being all in Jack's mind.

Forget seasons 1-5 and focus on season six, from Jack's "child" to Sawyer being a cop to Hurley being a multimillionaire. Add to the fact about the ambiguous power source to the MIB not having a name to Jack = Jacob and so on. He has no children (hence, Tawaret).

It was a great series and I'm not "mad" about the ending but it is what it is:

A complete fabrication on Jack's part while dying in a jungle immediately after a plane crash.

We saw his pathetic life. Failed marriage, no children, inferiority complex, dead father. He "crash lands" on a island where he's the hero.

He saves the lives of people he "touched" on the plane, he makes strong decisions and becomes a leader: something he could never accomplish or do in real life.

The rest, he assumes. It's all a byproduct of his imagination as he lies dying. A justification for being weak and lame.

His father leads him to the actual light.

End of story.

Interesting take....

At the least, i wish the creators and writers would come out and actually explain what all this meant.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

You're of course, welcome to believe what you'd like.

The simplest explanation is that the show was completely about Jack and in the end, about Jack.

Jack was Jacob.

They all died in the plane crash. It was Jack's "flash forward" before death.

I'm shocked that other people on CP can't see this.

So it was all a dream. Lame.

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

So it was all a dream. Lame.

No it wasn't. I am cool with people having their opinions, but to be honest with you, anyone who believes this doesn't really get the show.

Dane, you seem like a cool guy and all, but I think you are 100% wrong here.

I will say though that a lot of people in this thread will just go with whatever you say, at least thats what it seems like.

You are like Jacob in a way...

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

For the record, I think it's an EXTREMELY cheap way out.

Everything that happened was in Jack's mind.

It cheapens the series and the story.

Oh well.

And its been done to death. St. Elsewhere was a mentally challenged childs imagination. Bob Newheart woke up from a dream about owning an Inn. If true, the lack of orginality would be unbelievable for a show that had orginal ideas at one time.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

And its been done to death. St. Elsewhere was a mentally challenged childs imagination. Bob Newheart woke up from a dream about owning an Inn. If true, the lack of orginality would be unbelievable for a show that had orginal ideas at one time.

I think it's hardly that...

I've had mixed thoughts on the ending, but as I think about it more... I really do think you could interpret about 4-5 solid ways to sum of the meaning of the show. I don't have the time to go through them and at some point, I'll try to wrap my arms around them and type them.

However, I do think that the notion of this just being all in Jack's mind is a bit simplistic... it's too obvious. Remember what Flocke said to Jack when he realized he was the replacement for Jacob? He said something like "You are the one? Don't you think that's a bit too obvious?" Something to that nature... then as we find out, it wasn't Jack after all ... it was Hurley. Jack had to be the 'intermediate replacement' in order for Flocke to become mortal, then Hurley would ultimate take over his role.

So, I think once things settle and I can digest it more... I'll be able to make more sense of it.

Did Ben not go into the church because Danielle and her daughter weren't there - meaning they had not died yet? Where were the kids (Aaron, Sun and Jin's baby, Desmond and Penny's child).

What's the deal with Locke saying to Jack (twice) that he didn't have a son (this was after the surgery). What's the story there? Who was the kid then and how would Locke know?

Same with Walt, he wasn't there because he had not died ... we learned previously that Michael said he was essentially "stuck on the island... part of the whispers". Where was Ecko... was he there with Michael - trapped?

I think it's interesting how the Jacob/Richard roles wound up being Hurley/Ben in the end...

I think "seeing this through Jack's eyes and it's all a dream" is a bit too simplistic. Sure, it's a definite possibility, but I think it's just one of several ways to interpret it.

[Moobs]

Originally Posted by Buck

No it wasn't. I am cool with people having their opinions, but to be honest with you, anyone who believes this doesn't really get the show.

Dane, you seem like a cool guy and all, but I think you are 100% wrong here.

I will say though that a lot of people in this thread will just go with whatever you say, at least thats what it seems like.

You are like Jacob in a way...

This x 1000. From everything I have read so far from fans, professional reviewers, blog sites, and this is the only time I've seen the ending interpreted this way.

[Mile High Mania]

I mean seriously... did some of you really expect one final resolution to all of this? If you did, then you have abandoned what you loved about a show that you devoted 6 years watching... there are never final answers to all of the questions, and when answers are provided... more questions arise.

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

I think it's hardly that...

I've had mixed thoughts on the ending, but as I think about it more... I really do think you could interpret about 4-5 solid ways to sum of the meaning of the show. I don't have the time to go through them and at some point, I'll try to wrap my arms around them and type them.

However, I do think that the notion of this just being all in Jack's mind is a bit simplistic... it's too obvious. Remember what Flocke said to Jack when he realized he was the replacement for Jacob? He said something like "You are the one? Don't you think that's a bit too obvious?" Something to that nature... then as we find out, it wasn't Jack after all ... it was Hurley. Jack had to be the 'intermediate replacement' in order for Flocke to become mortal, then Hurley would ultimate take over his role.

So, I think once things settle and I can digest it more... I'll be able to make more sense of it.

Did Ben not go into the church because Danielle and her daughter weren't there - meaning they had not died yet? Where were the kids (Aaron, Sun and Jin's baby, Desmond and Penny's child).

Ben didn't go in because he wasn't ready to move on yet, he wasn't ready to give up on living with Alex and Danielle, which he didn't have enough time to do while he was living. He is already dead in the real timeline by this point, IMO, they all are.

What's the deal with Locke saying to Jack (twice) that he didn't have a son (this was after the surgery). What's the story there? Who was the kid then and how would Locke know?

IMO, Jack created the son in his head because of all the father issues he had, and he wanted to do the right thing and prove to himself he could be a good dad, a better one than he had.

Same with Walt, he wasn't there because he had not died ... we learned previously that Michael said he was essentially "stuck on the island... part of the whispers". Where was Ecko... was he there with Michael - trapped?

Again, I think Walt was dead by this point in time (lets say it was 100 years into the future). I don't think that Walt, Michael, Eko, Mr. Friendly, Mikhail, Nikki, Paulo, etc. were there because they weren't as important to eachother as the rest of them. Like Christian said, they all created this place because they needed eachother, they needed to remember before they could move on. They didn't need those people to do so. I think they could have gotten away with having Walt and Michael there, but it worked just as well without them.
I think it's interesting how the Jacob/Richard roles wound up being Hurley/Ben in the end...

I think "seeing this through Jack's eyes and it's all a dream" is a bit too simplistic. Sure, it's a definite possibility, but I think it's just one of several ways to interpret it.

Yeah, no. The Ending is what it was, and End. The episode was called "The End." It was time for their story to be over, so they (the characters) ended it by finding eachother before passing on. The Alt was basically in the future after they all died. If you remember, Hurley said to Ben, "You were a great #2." (Or something just like that)...This means that Ben was no longer a #2. Hurley had to have died too, everyone there was dead.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

However, I do think that the notion of this just being all in Jack's mind is a bit simplistic... it's too obvious.

If it was instaneous and it was all a dream how come Jack had on different clothes and a different haircut and bleeding in different places than when we first saw him?

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

I mean seriously... did some of you really expect one final resolution to all of this? If you did, then you have abandoned what you loved about a show that you devoted 6 years watching... there are never final answers to all of the questions, and when answers are provided... more questions arise.

I didn't expect it to be resolved, I knew that it would be open ended, but to sit here and say that the whole series was a dream, give me a break. Give the writers some credibilty, ****. They had you at the edge of your seat for 6 seasons.

And I'm not arguing with anything you are saying MHM, just to make that clear.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

If it was instaneous and it was all a dream how come Jack had on different clothes and a different haircut and bleeding in different places than when we first saw him?

I dunno... but the final scenes with the credits were interesting. I'd be interested to see screen shots (and they'll be up soon) to compare those shots with the original wreckage of flight 815.

Was it indeed the same crash scene? Was it the plane that took off in the last episode? I dunno, but I want to see comparisons.

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

I dunno... but the final scenes with the credits were interesting. I'd be interested to see screen shots (and they'll be up soon) to compare those shots with the original wreckage of flight 815.

Was it indeed the same crash scene? Was it the plane that took off in the last episode? I dunno, but I want to see comparisons.

What the hell man?

I need to see that because for some reason the Local news decided that it would be a good idea to break in with BREAKING NEWS for an earthquake that was a 4.0 that was in Mexico.

It broke in a minute before it was scheduled to end. I want to see what you are talking about.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by Buck

I didn't expect it to be resolved, I knew that it would be open ended, but to sit here and say that the whole series was a dream, give me a break. Give the writers some credibilty, ****. They had you at the edge of your seat for 6 seasons.

And I'm not arguing with anything you are saying MHM, just to make that clear.

Yeah, I don't think it was a dream either... they're all connected, there is a reason they were all "there" in this world of LOST and why the others from the plane crash were not.

Maybe they all had issues that needed to be resolved before they could 'move on'... so the last 6 years was a look into how these people were all thrown together to 'fix themselves' so they could move on.

It's fun stuff.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by Buck

What the hell man?

I need to see that because for some reason the Local news decided that it would be a good idea to break in with BREAKING NEWS for an earthquake that was a 4.0 that was in Mexico.

It broke in a minute before it was scheduled to end. I want to see what you are talking about.

I'm sure it's out there... you can go to Hulu.com and skip to the end. And in that final scene... I want to know what that is in the middle of the wreckage, looks like someone wearing all black. Could be nothing though.