Lost - The End

The following was written as the show progressed, in an attempt to make the writer's life just a little easier. It is chock full of SPOILERS and lots of commentary. You get the honest to goodness first reactions to the events as they happened. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed the process. There are no concluding remarks at the end, as my brain really couldn't process much more once it was finished. Maybe I'll write more after a second viewing in a couple days. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

This is it. The moment we have all been waiting for. After 6 years investing our hearts and lives into this show, we have now come to The End of Lost. The finale was quite extensive, but I'm going to try my best to write as coherent a recap as I possibly can.

In Sideways world, Desmond has busted Kate and Sayid out of jail. Sayid has gone with Hurley while Kate has stayed with Desmond, who is going to give her a bit of Enlightenment.

Back on the Island, Jack is fresh from his own brand of Enlightenment, with Jacob passing on the Island torch to him. The stakes: protect the Light or it will be the end for all of them. Hurley says, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Ya think?! After the scene with the submarine blowing up earlier this season I won't put anything past these writers. Expect the unexpected, is what I say. Boy was I right about that.

Sideways Hurley telling Sayid, "if you stick with me you'll be happy you did" made me think of our relationship with Lost. We have stuck with this show for 6 years, and now is the time where we get to be happy we did.

On the Island, Smokey and Sawyer are both looking for Desmond at the well, but he has somehow found himself with Rose and Bernard. Oh, and their little dog Vincent too. Looks like we really are bringing everyone back for the big finish. Smokey finds where they are hiding and tells Desmond to come with him or Rose and Bernard will die. He cooperates in exchange for their guaranteed safety.

So Desmond goes with Smokey and Ben to the next phase of "the plan". When I saw that Ben was still in contact with Miles and hadn't actually abandoned them I did a little cheer - and then quickly got my head back in the game.

In Sideways world, Miles is heading to the concert that Drive Shaft is supposed to give. I predict all of Sideways world will be at this concert for a huge dose of Enlightenment before we are through. (Was kinda sorta right on this point). Jin and Sun seem to have their moment when Juliet is examining Sun and the baby though. It had to have been incredibly weird for Sun watching she and Jin die in the final flashes of her memory. Still, it was great seeing them suddenly know how to speak English perfectly and using that as a merging of the two worlds.

Back on the Island, the pieces are set up and it is established that everyone is going to the Cave of Wonders for a final showdown. Switching from Island Jack planning on killing Locke to Sideways Jack working to save Locke was quite a transition. They are approaching it from different angles, but both versions are ultimately going to accomplish the same thing. Their versions of Locke are broken in different ways and they are going to fix them. Does that mean merging the two together? Keep reading to find out.

Hooray moment #2 - Frank is still alive! And he is going to fly them all off the island! Hooray!

Back to the main story though - Jack and Smokey face off. Jack looks him dead in the eye and says "I'm gonna kill you. "How are you going to do that?" Smokey asks. "It's a surprise," Jack replies. *gets chills* That was almost Cheer Moment #3, but not quite. The real "Hooray" comes when he actually does it. For now it was more of a *gasp*

Sideways world gives us our own *gasp* with Juliet being the mother of Jack's child. They are all planning on going to the Drive Shaft concert as a little not-quite-perfect family.

Back on the island, I couldn't help but think the Island brought us to the Light a little too soon. That was until Desmond basically confirmed going into the Light was going to bring them to Sideways world and their own bit of Enlightenment. Then I figured the rest of it had to be the merging of the two worlds. Desmond seems to be the thing connecting the two worlds together. By him going into the Light, it will somehow trigger this merging of the worlds. Or so I thought.

Sideways world gives us back Shannon and Boone, and in that moment also gives Sayid his Enlightenment. Now he can have his second chance. It also brings us one step closer to that merger I just talked about. And back on the Island Desmond is being lowered into the Light to really get this party started.

Speaking of parties, there certainly are a lot of familiar faces at that party/concert that we've been gearing up for. Aww shucks moment #I-don't-even-know-anymore = Charlotte and Dan Faraday meeting in Sideways world. Every couple that meets in this world makes me melt a little more. And it looks like Drive Shaft doesn't wait till the end to put in their appearance. (Sidebar - damn Faraday is a good piano player). And awww to Charlie and Claire staring at each other when he gets on stage. They were one of my all-time favorite couple on this show. It made Charlie dying even harder.

Island Desmond steps into the Light (literally) and makes Enlightenment look way more painful than the Sideways world had made it seem. Just when you think he will be torn apart, the Light goes out. And then it looks like a lock being opened and I-don't-even-know-how-to-decribe-it. What the hell did I just witness?! Brain = overloaded. (Maybe that's how Desmond feels?) Whatever it was just made it so Smokey could bleed - almost like it turned him human. Did Desmond walking into the Light somehow counter Smokey's powers? Like maybe there is a balance in the universe now? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

Back to Sideways world - Claire's moment with Charlie seems to have triggered her labour. Everyone say it with me - Of course it has! And how appropriate that Kate is the one there to help her deliver the baby. That doesn't sound familiar at all? *note the sarcasm* The whole thing makes me believe in fate more than ever - and brings the two a little piece of Enlightenment. And then when Charlie joins the picture - forget about it. No - remember! Everything! Charlie remembers Claire and we all get the moment we've wanted since the day Charlie died - the idea they will actually get to be a picture-perfect family and live happily ever after.

Things aren't nearly as peachy on the island though. As Sideways world gets pieced together, the island starts falling apart. No one said paradise would be easy to reach though, did they? Oh, and hello there Jack and Locke. Them facing off makes my heart stop a little, and I wonder if I will live long enough to post this massive blog I have written. Their fight is purely primal, and sends us back to the early days of man. It is a woman who will save Jack from a knife to the throat though - more specifically Kate. Locke takes a tumble off the cliff and we wave bye-bye.

Sideways world seems to be merging even more, as the cut on Jack's neck appears in this world as well. And Locke wakes up, knowing that "it worked" - almost as if his two selves had merged as well. And in that moment Locke has his Enlightenment, remembering the first time he walked on the island. Jack starts to remember a little too, even though he tries to fight it. He hurries off quite shaken (which I would be too if the same had happened to me).

Island Jack isn't doing so good either though. He has quite the stab wound to contend with. Although he claims he'll be fine, this viewer isn't convinced.

Moments that make me smile: Frank giving Miles duct tape (!) to fix the plane. Thus proving my theory that duct tape can fix ANYTHING. He and Ben also get the exchange of the night:

Frank: Don't bother me
Ben: Sounds like they're making progress.

Love it! "Don't bother me" is what we all say to our friends when they try to talk to us during Lost. And we always finish each week thinking we are "making progress".

It is all happening too fast. Ben is saying "If the island is going down, I'm going down with it" and Jack and Kate are proclaiming their love for each other and I am just done at this point. If you thought it was hard following this review before, then you better hold on because we still have a long way to go before this thing comes in for its final landing.

Whew, ok, I think I've composed myself enough to continue. It's hard when Miles gives me lines like this though:

"I don't believe in a lot of things, but I do believe in duct tape"

Going back to the actually story though, Sawyer seems to be the only one left in Sideways world who is totally and utterly confused here. He is left wandering the hospital in this state of mind when he runs into none other than Juliet. They get their little flash of Enlightenment and Sawyer is no longer the odd-man-out. Again I say it must be weird for these people seeing the death scenes of them and their partners. It is hard to imagine just how that would feel, but the cast all did a great job of conveying it convincingly enough.

The Enlightenment continues when Kate and Jack run into each other at what remains of the party. Jack is still resisting, but Kate is going to help complete the process.

Meanwhile, Island Jack is embracing his destiny by throwing himself down into the Cave to complete his part in protecting the island. Before he goes he passes the job onto Hurley (who, if you remember, had previously said he was glad it wasn't him when Jack got the job in the first place). They perform the same ritual that has been tradition from the beginning, and with that Hurley is the new Island Guardian.

Cheer Moment #I-stopped-counting-at-this-point goes to Jack's line to Desmond, "I'll see you in another life brother." We are realizing here that while the island has huge implications, at the same time it doesn't really matter what happens here or who survives - we'll see them in another life.

And so we end as we began - with a bunch of people on a plane heading for they-don't-know-what. They fly off just as the island starts breaking up beneath them. They will live together somewhere, while Jack will die alone on the island.While this sounds rather sad, the scene they paint for us is really quite beautiful. Somehow we are left knowing that this is what Jack was meant to do all along. This is how things are supposed to be.

Sideways world ties it all together in the most beautiful way possible. The scene with Locke and Ben - well, words just can't even describe. Ben apologizing for what he did and explaining himself, and then Locke forgiving him for everything. Nope, words can't describe how perfect that felt. Just like there are no words for John getting out of the chair and walking into the church where the other Enlightened Losties were.

Island Ben gets some good final moments too. He guides Hurley along in the learning process that is "what-the-hell-do-we-do-now". Wish we had something like that here in our post-Lost world.

We still have one final piece of the puzzle before we can wrap this up though. Sideways Jack is ever so slowly working his way towards Final Enlightenment. As he touches the casket his father is to be buried in, it all comes rushing back to him. The first person to be introduced to us is the last one to be Island Enlightened. It seems rather fitting. Nothing could have prepared me for the conversation with his father. Dad tells him he is dead and so is everyone else and SURPRISE Sideways world is what we can possibly interpret as heaven, paradise, whatever-you-want-to-call-it. I could never have imagined a more perfect finish to this show. I never would have believed I'd be happy to see an entire cast die, but really everyone dies at some point (as Christian points out to Jack). And despite all the challenges the island presented, they were happiest when they were together. Now they can live happily-ever-after for all eternity. Can I get an Amen? If the island was purgatory, then they have finally reached their final resting place. And as the Light pours throughout the church, encompassing them all, I am left completely satisfied.