So, I know you’ve been thinking to yourself, “Self? I wonder what David’s thoughts were on the Lost finale”. I know that there are lots of opinions floating around the etherwebs. Lost was already one of those shows that many people either loved or hated. Rather than devolve into a discussion about how I feel the need to self mutilate myself after watching the finale, I thought I would write a blog post describing why I think it was so great.
As a (practicing) non-thiest, I really had never put much thought into the theology behind the series. “Christian Shepherd”, duh, didn’t click with me until this final episode. While the writers, through interviews and dvd commentaries, had left a lot of it open to speculation – intentionally, I think they followed through. It never beat you over the head in any direction – even with the ending taking place in a church. Like most of the events in the series, it left a lot of room for interpretation by the viewer – which is one of the reasons it was so successful. It resonated with people all over because even though the series was based on a lot of events that didn’t make sense, the finale brought forth a conclusion that made sense of those events.
Was I shocked that they didn’t answer all the questions? Hell NO. Why would I care WHY the shark had a Dharma symbol on it? Why would I care WHY there was a polar bear on the island? Near the end, the writers made it clear that there would be less answers than just concluding these people’s lives. They did it brilliantly.
The conclusion was as fulfilling as I had expected it to be. With the quality of the writing that kept that show going for six seasons (some admittedly better than others ), it didn’t let up. I’m not ashamed to say that I teared up at the end.
I watched it again. And I teared up at the end again.
