Rueben's Ramblings

Now that it’s been well over a month since the conclusion of the groundbreaking ABC series Lost, I thought it might be worthwhile to revisit the past six seasons and briefly review what I think was the message behind the series finale.

Granted, there are numerous conclusions to the mysteries of the island and what really happened to everyone who was stranded there as well as the multi-layered meanings behind the final scenes that screamed of religious overtones. My opinion on those last scenes may not match yours, but I hope it will make you think and share your thoughts on the ending.

But first, here is an overview of all six seasons, running down some of the major plot points and revisiting pertinent details of each season:

SEASON ONE:

The series debuted on ABC on September 22, 2004 with a groundbreaking two-hour premiere that showed the aftermath of a plane crash which stranded the surviving passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 on a seemingly deserted island. The multi-cultural survivors soon learned of a mysterious entity that inhabited the island, threatening their very existence, as well as learned of the island’s malevolent inhabitants they ended up calling the “Others” as well as a crazy French woman named Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan) who was shipwrecked on the island 16 years ago. During the course of the first season, several survivors attempted to make a raft they used in an attempt to leave the island while some of the other survivors found a strange metal hatch buried out in the jungle.

During the pilot and throughout the first season, the millions of viewers who tuned in to the show were introduced to the large cast which included: Dr. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia), James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway), John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) and his estranged son Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley), married couple Jin and Sun Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim), Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan), pregnant Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) and siblings Boone Carlyle and Shannon Rutherford (Ian Somerhalder and Maggie Grace).

Besides the two-hour pilot, some of the more popular episodes from the first season were Walkabout – in which it is revealed that Locke was confined to a wheelchair off the island but could walk freely on the island; White Rabbit – Jack sees his deceased father walking around the island; Confidence Man – where Sawyer’s past is revealed and a monumental kiss is shared between Sawyer and Kate; All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues – in which Claire and Charlie are kidnapped and Charlie nearly dies only to be saved at the last moment by Jack; Do No Harm – where Boone was the first crash survivor to die as Claire gave birth to her son Aaron with help from Kate and Exodus Part 1 and 2 – the first season’s finale that had major reveals including the discovery of the Smoke Monster, the marooned Black Rock ship sitting in the middle of the island, the launch of the raft and the subsequent kidnapping of young Walt by the “Others” and blowing open the hatch.

An important theme throughout the first season was a strange set of numbers that were not only the winning lottery numbers used by Hurley back in the real world that resulted in him winning millions of dollars but also the set of numbers that were found on the opening of the mysterious hatch. These numbers would play out for the rest of the season in very unexpected ways.

SEASON TWO:

With the start of Season Two, more major revelations (and just as many questions) were provided (created) not only in the premiere episode – Man of Science, Man of Faith, two major recurring themes – but also throughout the entire season. Some of the major plot points from this season included: the hatch was opened and inhabitant Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) was discovered along with learning he had been tasked for years to punch a set of numbers (the same numbers from Hurley’s lotto win and found on the outside of the hatch) into an antiquated computer to keep the island safe; and the discovery of the Dharma Initiative – the inhabitants of the island – its benefactor the Hanso Foundation and learning more about the insidious Others.

The new cast members introduced this season included: Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnouoye-Agbagje), Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez) and Libby Smith (Cynthia Watros). Characters who were only marginally seen or referenced in the first season who were revisited occasionally during the second season were: Rose and Bernard Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell and Sam Anderson) and Leslie Arzt (Daniel Roebuck). One of the mysterious “Others” was identified – Tom Friendly (M. C. Gainey); one member of the Dharma Initiative was revealed – Dr. Pierre Chang (Francois Chau) and a survivor of a downed hot-air balloon – Henry Gale (Michael Emerson) was discovered in the jungle.

Some of the more popular episodes during this season were The Other 48 Days – which showed the point of view from the “tailies” – the survivors of the tail section; Abandoned – where Ana Lucia inadvertently shot and killed Shannon, thinking she was one of the “Others”; What Kate Did – in which viewers learned the back story of Kate and what she did to become a wanted felon; The 23rd Psalm – where Mr. Eko’s past as a drug warlord in Nigeria was revealed and Live Together, Die Alone – the climatic season finale where Michael gave Sawyer, Jack, Kate and Hurley over to the “Others” in exchange for the return of his son Walt; the back-story of Desmond was revealed and the hatch was blown up by Desmond with Mr. Eko, Locke and Charlie trapped inside.

Several other key plot lines in this season were the discovery of Sun being pregnant despite husband Jin being impotent; Michael shooting Ana Lucia and Libby in order to release Henry Gale and tricking Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley into devising a rescue mission to save his son Walt from the “Others”.

NOTE: For the first two seasons, the lives of the survivors of Oceanic 815 before they boarded the plane were seen in what was known as flashbacks.

SEASON THREE:

Season Three began with a bang as the aftermath of the implosion of the hatch was revealed with those trapped inside surviving, including the man who detonated it – Desmond, who seemed to now have special abilities (that were slowly revealed throughout the rest of the series). Henry Gale was revealed to actually be Benjamin Linus, the leader of the “Others,” who had lived on the island for most of his life, starting out as part of the Dharma Initiative. Other survivors of the downed flight were introduced; one of the “Others” joined the Oceanic survivors and one of the Oceanic survivors left to join the Others.

The other survivors of Oceanic 815 that were introduced during this season included (the much-maligned by the fans) Nikki Fernandez (Kiele Sanchez) and Paolo (Rodrigo Santoro); the “Other” who joined the Oceanic survivors was Dr. Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) and John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) left the Oceanic survivors to join the “Others” in a bid to follow a destiny he believed was his own. Desmond became an important member of the survivors thanks in great part to his newly developed abilities. Also introduced during this season was Ben’s daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde), who was actually Danielle Rousseau’s daughter taken from Danielle after Alex’s birth on the island and the “Others” enforcer Mikhail Bakunin (Andrew Divoff).

Some of the more popular episodes in this season included: A Tale of Two Cities – where Juliet was introduced and viewers learned Jack was being held in an underwater station while Kate and Sawyer were held in cages that housed the polar bears (that were introduced in the first season); Further Instructions – in which Hurley discovered that Desmond could see the future; The Man from Tallahassee – where Locke blew up the submarine used first by the Dharma Initiative and later the “Others” to get off the island; The Brig – where it was revealed the “Others” had Locke’s father (who was the cause of his paralysis) in captivity and who the viewers learned was the original Sawyer who caused the murder-suicide of James’s parents and who was finally killed by James in retaliation all these years later and Through the Looking Glass – the emotionally charged finale that included the death of Charlie, the revelation that some of the Oceanic survivors made it off the island and the introduction of the first flash-forward in the now infamous scene between Jack and Kate in the future where he says, “We have to go back”.

Other major plot points were when Mr. Eko was killed by the Smoke Monster; learning that Sawyer had a daughter back in the “real world”; Jack performing major surgery on Ben’s back, but nearly allowing him to die in a bid to get Kate and Sawyer out of the Others camp and back to the other survivors; the (albeit untimely) “death” of Nikki and Paolo; learning all pregnant women on the island die before giving birth; that Ben killed nearly all of the Dharma Initiative members, including his verbally abusive father, the full introduction of ageless Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell) and the arrival of a parachutist, Naomi (Marsha Thomason), who Desmond believed was sent by his love Penny (Sonya Walger).

SEASON FOUR:

Season Four, cut short by the 2007-2008 Writers’ Strike, primarily dealt with the arrival of a supposed rescue team from a freighter called Kahana that was located just offshore from the island and was fronted by Charles Widmore (Alan Dale), a Dharma Initiative member who was driven off the island by Benjamin Linus and was seeking revenge as well as showcasing the lives of the Oceanic Six, the survivors from the island who made it back to the real world. Their lives were shown through flash forwards, which became an important new facet of the series.

The members of the rescue team included Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), who was an extremely talented and knowledgeable physicist; Charlotte Lewis (Rebecca Mader), a cultural anthropologist; Miles Straume (Ken Leung), a medium who had the ability to divine the history of any dead person whose graves he walked over and Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey), the helicopter pilot who provided the rescue team transportation to and from the freighter. He, ironically enough, was to be the original pilot of Oceanic 815 but overslept and someone else took his place. Also introduced was Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand) the leader of a militant force tasked to abduct Benjamin Linus, returning him to the Kahana Freighter for Charles Widmore.

The more popular episodes of this season included: The Beginning of the End – which found the survivors of Oceanic 815 split into two groups led by Jack and Locke and the reveal of who were the members of the Oceanic 6, including Hurley, Kate and Jack; The Economist – in which the viewers learned that Sayid was also part of the Oceanic 6 and was working as an assassin for Ben; Eggtown – in which it was learned that Kate had taken on mothering duties for Claire’s son Aaron, who was also one of the Oceanic 6; The Constant – in which Desmond time traveled between 2004 and 1996 (because of the special gifts he obtained during the implosion of the hatch and the mysterious contaminants contained within) and had to find his “constant” within both worlds in order to stop the life-threatening time travel; Ji Yeon – in which viewers learned Sun was the final member of the Oceanic 6, as she gave birth to her daughter and There’s No Place Like Home Parts 1, 2 and 3, the over-the-top finale that depicted the explosion of the freighter with Jin onboard, the unexpected disappearance of the island, which was made possible by Ben turning a donkey wheel deep beneath the island that simply made the island vanish and transported him to Tanzania and the events that lead up to the Oceanic 6 as well as Frank Lapidus and Desmond being rescued by Penny (Charles Widmore’s daughter) and their save return home to an awaiting media frenzy to whom they lie, stating they were the only survivors of the downed Oceanic Flight 815.

Other important plot points during this season were learning that Michael was actually on the freighter, Keamy, the mercenary, killed Ben’s daughter Alex right before his own eyes and Claire’s mysterious disappearance into the jungle with Christian Shephard (who was not only Jack’s father but also Claire’s), leaving baby Aaron with a shocked Sawyer and Miles.

SEASON FIVE:

Season Five took a radical turn with two very different timelines taking place throughout the season. First, those left behind on the island, after the turning of the donkey wheel, ending up being stuck jumping around in time, but eventually landed in 1974 with the Dharma Initiative. And, second, the timeline of the Oceanic 6 off the island and their unexpected return to the island via Ajira Airways Flight 316 in 2007.

No major cast members were added during this season; however, Ilana Verdansky (Zuleikha Robinson), who was one of the survivors of the downed Arija flight, who claimed to be a bounty hunter but was actually summoned to the island by Jacob (Mark Pelligrino), the enigmatic leader of the “Others” to protect certain members of the Oceanic 815 survivors who would become an important factor near the end of this season (and who would have a profound effect in the next season) was introduced. Two of the major plot points during this season were Ben (and eventually Jack and Locke) attempting to get the Oceanic 6 to return to the island and the time travel of those still on the island and the profound effect the time-travelling started to have on their overall health.

Some of the more popular episodes this season were: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham – in which viewers learned how the time-travel on the island was stopped – Locke turned the donkey wheel and was transported to Tanzania and then set out to find the Oceanic 6 but was subsequently killed by Ben; 316 – where the Oceanic 6 were reunited and told how they could return to the island by Eloise Hawking (who was not only Daniel Faraday’s mother, once lover of Charles Widmore but was also a former inhabitant of the island) ; La Fleur – in which viewers learned that the island survivors were now trapped in 1974 with the Dharma Initiative, having been there for 3 years with Sawyer and Juliet in a loving relationship with each other only to be reunited with Jack, Kate and Hurley who ended up in that time when the Ajira flight crashed on the island and The Incident Part 1 and 2 – the season finale that had the detonation of a bomb, which Daniel Faraday told Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Juliet could undo everything that happened to them and the death of Jacob at the hands of Ben, prompted by the supposed Locke who was definitely not who he seemed.

Other plot points important to the season included Hurley telling his mother they all lied about what really happened on the island (after struggling with the lies for so long); Jin being discovered alive and on the island by Sawyer, Juliet and Miles; Charlotte dying from the effects of the time-traveling, revealing to Faraday that she had lived on the island as a child; Sayid shooting young Benjamin Linus with the belief that his death would change all of their futures; Kate leaving Aaron with Claire’s mother and telling her the truth of his birth; the discovery that Locke was very much alive on the island despite being dead and in a coffin on the Arija Flight and being in a separate timeline with the Arija survivors, which included Frank Lapidus and Sun Kwon.

SEASON SIX:

The final season of the show aired from February through May 23, 2010, once again, depicting two very different timelines. One timeline was all of the passengers on Oceanic Flight 815 not crashing on the island, making it back to Los Angeles and carrying on with their lives. The second timeline showed the survivors on the island, after the detonation of the bomb, seemingly being transported to 2007, meeting up with the timeline of the Arija flight survivors. Some of the survivors encountered a faction of the Others who took them to the “Temple” while another faction worked their way to the remnants of the island’s statue where Jacob has been shown to reside.

Since this was the last season of the series no new cast members were officially added to the show; however, Dylan Minnette appeared as Jack’s son David in the LA timeline, Titus Welliver appeared as the Man in Black and Mark Pelligrino returned as Jacob, the leader of the “Others” who played a key part in the season. Also seen in this season were John Hawkes who appeared as Lennon and Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada as Dogen, both members of the Others stationed at the Temple and Sheila Kelly appeared as Zoe, who worked as part of Charles Widmore’s crew who came to the island to finish his attempt to conquer the island and those on it.

Former cast members as well as past and present guest stars who had recurring (albeit short-run) appearances were also seen in the Los Angeles timeline. The season was also touted as providing answers to many of the questions that evolved over the years, but many viewers will easily argue the validity of that claim for many years to come.

It can also be argued if there were any popular episodes throughout the season simply because of the nature of the more-than-unusual storylines. There were many plot points that became integral to the overall legacy of the entire series via this season.

Some of those important moments included the following: Learning the Locke on the island was actually the Man in Black, who turned out to also be the Smoke Monster as well as Jacob’s biological twin brother; Juliet actually died in Sawyer’s arms after the bomb’s explosion, which, as previously mentioned, transported them to 2007; the Others in the Temple claimed Sayid was infected and was no longer the man the survivors knew; and the real Locke was buried along with all the other deceased survivors on the island.

Also, there were these moments: Hurley was directed by the deceased Jacob to take Jack to a Lighthouse located on an unvisited part of the island that revealed how Jacob was able to visit the survivors as seen in previous flashbacks; the back story of Richard Alpert’s life from 1867 was finally revealed, including how he ended up on the Black Rock pirate ship and how the ship ended up on the island; and Charles Widmore subjected Desmond to an experiment using the unusual properties contained on the island, which in turn, affected his doppelganger in the LA timeline, which set in motion the interconnections of all the Oceanic 815 passengers in that timeline

While more moments included: the legendary numbers that have haunted many of the survivors throughout their lives on and off the island were revealed as numbers assigned by Jacob to some of the Oceanic 815 survivors who he believed were “candidates” to take his place in protecting the island; the fake Locke setting up the Oceanic survivors as they tried to make an escape on the sub by planting a bomb inside a backpack that was taken inside by Jack, which caused not only Sayid’s death, who sacrificed himself in an effort to get the bomb as far away from the survivors on the sub as possible but also the inadvertent death of Sun and Jin inside the sub; and Jack volunteering to take over for Jacob as the protector of the island, leading into the eventful series finale.

All of which led up to the 2 ½ hours series finale that millions of viewers saw, showing how all the Oceanic passengers in the LA timeline met up at a concert arranged by Eloise Hawking for her son Daniel Faraday; how each passenger in the LA timeline remembered their lives on the island, interspersed with the Good Vs. Evil showdown on the island between Jack and the fake Locke (aka the Smoke Monster aka the Man in Black); the ultimate sacrifice by Jack to save the island, passing on the mantle of island protector to Hurley and a very surprised Benjamin Linus (for whom Hurley asked to help him) and the final moments that revealed the flash sideways, the entire LA timeline story, was a purgatory of sorts, or a holding pattern for the main characters, where they “resided” until they accepted their lives and deaths and learned to “let go” and “move on” especially Jack who was the last one to accept his fate, as his deceased father greeted him inside a church where all the main characters gathered to help him to also “let go” and “move on”.

The moments in the finale riled a great many viewers because of 1) the religious overtones that were so prevalent in the final moments; 2) they felt ripped off by the show’s writers and executive producers who had claimed all along the characters were not in purgatory; and 3) they felt cheated by not getting answers to so many questions that were left unexplained.

For me, I was moved to tears by a number of the scenes in the finale; namely, Claire giving birth to Aaron which led to her, Kate and Charlie remembering their time on the island; Sun and Jin remembering their time together on the island and Sawyer and Juliet rediscovering each other in the hospital. Unlike many others I wasn’t bothered by the religious implications; especially those in the last 10 minutes. I didn’t see those last scenes as being focused on simply one belief system because of all of the religious symbols that were reflected in the back room of the church when Jack found that his father wasn’t inside the coffin. Nor did I see the church where they all gathered as just a church; I felt it was Jack’s interpretation of where he wanted to be to say goodbye to his father. As for the light that beamed back inside the church as Jack’s dad stepped out of the doors, wasn’t the light of heaven coming in to encase all of the main characters; it was the light of the island being restored, bringing a balance back to not only the island but to the world itself.

As Matthew Fox stated in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel after the conclusion of the finale, there is a religious belief where all the people who meant the most in a person’s life gather in one place to help that person move on to whatever is next in store for them; and I believe that is what was happening for Jack. This viewpoint may not be how you saw the finale and it may not have been the culmination of six seasons that the viewers wanted to see; but it did give closure to Jack who had always been the focal point of the show. After all, the beginning of the series focused on his opening eye as he woke up on the island and the ending was his closing his eye in the exact same spot. To me that was poignant and exactly how the show should end.

I do have to admit, though, that I did feel cheated by the myriad of unanswered questions that will assuredly be argued over for many years to come as well as the final moments of this monumental series.

What did you think of the series finale? What are your interpretations of those last 10 minutes? Please share your thoughts.