Lost: "The End"
Wow, I really don't know what to say about the ending right now. I'm still a bit stunned and depressed ...
I feel like I need a good cry that just isn't coming, probably because, in the endless parade of far more compelling and likable characters who died in such tragic and heroic ways, I ended up caring so little about Jack. Of course I shouldn't be surprised that it turned out to be All About Jack in the end. I knew the minute he lay down in that bamboo that it was going to end with his eye closing after every episode had started with someone's eye opening. And I kind of had a hunch all along that they were all dead anyway (and that the meaning of the title "Lost" was intended in the sense of the German translation "Verloren" from which we get the English "forlorn"), but Darlton kind of pulled a Ben Linus on us to throw us off that trail. But if, as Jimmy Kimmel said afterwards and Matthew Fox of course agreed, what does it all being from Jack's POV mean for all the other characters? Were their experiences on the island only in his mind? (If so, this could lead to an endless series of sequel series, one from each character's point of view!) Also, if Jack was dead the whole time and just taking six years to realize it ... I have so many questions, I can't even list them all. (I supposed you've got to give Foxy credit though, if he knew the ending all along, for managing to keep his mouth shut. Although I don't imagine it made for much camaraderie between him and the rest of the cast on the set.)
I guess up till that point in the episode, I was somewhat satisfied ... I really wanted Hurley to be the new Jacob, and Ben the new Richard, and Ben, Richard, and Hurley not to die, but who was the new Smoke Monster? And why didn't Jack or Desmond turn into a smoke monster after going down the well? Or did they? (I seriously thought, of all the characters, Desmond--the Constant--was the most certain to survive, in fact, that if it was all anyone's "dream," it was his!) How come they didn't make anything of the parallel between the stab wound in Jack's abdomen and his appendectomy on the beach? Why were all the original 48 survivors in Jack's "dream" having such complex experiences without him; what about all the other people on the plane? And if it was all from Jack's point of view, why did we have so many episodes Jack was (mercifully) not in? (Then again, watching the pilot again Saturday night reminded me of how sympathetic a character Jack was for the first season and a half or so and how much he changed for the worse.) Furthermore ...
I really can't wait to hear Michael Emerson's thoughts on all this once he figures it all out now that he's seen the whole ending! I'm sure he'll have plenty to share (I love it that he's such a fan; I can't believe Naveen and Emilie didn't bother to watch the show!), and his opinions usually make a lot of sense to me.
PS: I'm with the fan who Verizoned-in that we can all just throw out our TV sets now. After I rewatch the entire series to try to figure it all out, that is. (I will miss ogling Simon Baker's hair though.) :(
I feel like I need a good cry that just isn't coming, probably because, in the endless parade of far more compelling and likable characters who died in such tragic and heroic ways, I ended up caring so little about Jack. Of course I shouldn't be surprised that it turned out to be All About Jack in the end. I knew the minute he lay down in that bamboo that it was going to end with his eye closing after every episode had started with someone's eye opening. And I kind of had a hunch all along that they were all dead anyway (and that the meaning of the title "Lost" was intended in the sense of the German translation "Verloren" from which we get the English "forlorn"), but Darlton kind of pulled a Ben Linus on us to throw us off that trail. But if, as Jimmy Kimmel said afterwards and Matthew Fox of course agreed, what does it all being from Jack's POV mean for all the other characters? Were their experiences on the island only in his mind? (If so, this could lead to an endless series of sequel series, one from each character's point of view!) Also, if Jack was dead the whole time and just taking six years to realize it ... I have so many questions, I can't even list them all. (I supposed you've got to give Foxy credit though, if he knew the ending all along, for managing to keep his mouth shut. Although I don't imagine it made for much camaraderie between him and the rest of the cast on the set.)
I guess up till that point in the episode, I was somewhat satisfied ... I really wanted Hurley to be the new Jacob, and Ben the new Richard, and Ben, Richard, and Hurley not to die, but who was the new Smoke Monster? And why didn't Jack or Desmond turn into a smoke monster after going down the well? Or did they? (I seriously thought, of all the characters, Desmond--the Constant--was the most certain to survive, in fact, that if it was all anyone's "dream," it was his!) How come they didn't make anything of the parallel between the stab wound in Jack's abdomen and his appendectomy on the beach? Why were all the original 48 survivors in Jack's "dream" having such complex experiences without him; what about all the other people on the plane? And if it was all from Jack's point of view, why did we have so many episodes Jack was (mercifully) not in? (Then again, watching the pilot again Saturday night reminded me of how sympathetic a character Jack was for the first season and a half or so and how much he changed for the worse.) Furthermore ...
- What was up with Vincent at the end lying down next to Jack? Was he dead too? Or the only one left alive? (Didn't Darlton promise us that Vincent was alive? And that they weren't in Purgatory???)
- Where were Mr. Eko and Walt?
- Why is Hurley called Hurley???
- What happened to Lapidus and Miles and Richard on the plane since half of them ended up in the church and half of them didn't?
- And then, of course, what of Ben not going into the church? Is he in some kind of self-imposed Purgatory now? I find that idea profoundly unsatisfying (although his apology and confession to Locke were really touching). Things were going so well with him and Rousseau, I at least wanted the flip side of his life to go on. Is that called off now? And if everybody on the island--apparently in another dimension from ours--was dead, was Ben always dead too? Did he die when Sayid went back in time and shot him? Or maybe when the tree fell on him? In fact, did he always know he was dead, and was this why he was so utterly unfazed by any and all danger directed at him? (And where did he go during the second half of the Jimmy Kimmel special???)
- Were Jacob and his nameless brother ever alive? Who was the woman who preceded them and where did she come from? Were they all just people who refused to believe they were dead?
- What was with all the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland imagery? And the bunnies???
I really can't wait to hear Michael Emerson's thoughts on all this once he figures it all out now that he's seen the whole ending! I'm sure he'll have plenty to share (I love it that he's such a fan; I can't believe Naveen and Emilie didn't bother to watch the show!), and his opinions usually make a lot of sense to me.
PS: I'm with the fan who Verizoned-in that we can all just throw out our TV sets now. After I rewatch the entire series to try to figure it all out, that is. (I will miss ogling Simon Baker's hair though.) :(