The phrase “No risk, no reward” comes to mind as I attempt to digest the exquisite series finale of Lost, and it really applies to the series as a whole. Lost leapt across all genre lines, bravely encapsulating the characteristics of action-adventure, science fiction, mystery, love story, drama, even comedy. In the end, though, it was the characters and not the strange Island goings-on that carried us home, as this season’s flash-sideways stories were revealed to be an elaborate way to join these people together as they were meant to be. Faith, in humanity and each other, won out over science, as everyone gathered in a church to celebrate the connections they made, the love that developed, the everlasting friendships that would go unchanged by death, whenever that death might come.
If that explanation doesn’t quite make sense, I’m glad. Hopefully it will propel those who have avoided or abandoned the show for fear of its density to give it a whirl in its entirety and see how richly rewarded they’ll be by the experience.
The finale delivered some wonderful scenes as characters stuck in the flash-sideways were forced together (mostly by Desmond) and made to remember their lives on the island. Sun and Jin met Juliet during Sun’s sonogram; Sayid was reunited with Shannon as Boone protected her during an alleyway fight; the delivery of Claire’s baby once again connected Claire, Kate and Charlie; Jack performed spinal surgery on Locke, after which Locke was able to walk again; and the swoon worthy romance between Juliet and Sawyer was rekindled over a broken vending machine.
There were countless callbacks to events and lines of dialogue that have happened over the course of the show’s run, none more iconic than the last shot: Jack’s eye, seen many times opening in close-up, this time closing as he takes his final breath on the Island, Ajira Flight 316 ascending overhead, taking the remaining survivors (minus new Island protector Hurley and his sidekick Ben) back home.
The episode provided a payoff that, for my tastes, is unparalleled in the land of series finales, where the pressure almost always seems to get the best of even the most talented scribes. Here, Team Darlton (exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) stayed true to the heart of the show. They realized that none of the Island’s mysteries would have meant anything if they didn’t have the right group of people expressing the right set of emotions.
When you think about it, six years isn’t really that much time for a show as influential, revered, and just plain popular as Lost. Kudos to Darlton for knowing how much time they needed to get to their endgame, and to ABC for listening and respecting their creative decisions rather than letting the show fester and continue long after it had worn out its welcome. Epic doesn’t even begin to describe just how grand this series was. It will undoubtedly hold up to repeat viewings and heavy scrutinizing, and go down in the annals of television as one of the greatest series ever made. One of the phrases the characters on the show are fond of saying is, "Whatever happened, happened." What happened in the case of Lost was absolute magic.
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