Letting Go of Lost

Spoilers ahead! Don’t read this is you haven’t seen “The End” yet!

I feel compelled to comment on the ending of Lost. I’ve been a total Lost fangirl since the show’s pilot in 2004, having never missed an episode. Every Lost night, I’d have to kick my husband off the couch, so he could go watch his football-baseball-soccer-basketball games in the other room, and my son, who was 13 when the show started, and I could settle in to watch the show together. Without fail, there would be some moment in the show where we would look at each other with our jaws hanging open and say in unison, “Oh! My! God!”

I love the fact that Lost always surprised me with its twists and turns. I never was sure what would happen during the next episode, and I was always anxious to find out. I wondered and worried about the characters– never having a “favorite,” but enjoying each and every one in his or her turn. The fact that the characters were so well developed and had so many interesting sides to them, was so rewarding. Just when I “knew” what a character was like, the writers would totally surprise me and show me another side. I couldn’t “hate” Jack or Sawyer or Locke or Kate or Sayid, because despite their flaws and pig-headedness, they were just being who they were, and isn’t that what it means to be human? They tried to do what they thought was right and sometimes they were wrong — at least from my perspective.

What more can you ask from a television show than mystery, magic, mythology, strong and interesting characters, a stirring score, an incredible setting, and always something to talk/discuss/argue about.

During the progression of the series, I think we really saw the growth of the Blog-o-sphere, and I enjoyed reading almost everyone’s comments on various blogs over the years. Agree with the posters or not, they always gave me something to think about.

Some people will hate the finale because of all the unanswered questions. Leaving riddles unsolved doesn’t bother me at all. For me, the show was a pure thrill ride of emotion and wonder. I didn’t need solutions; I just needed to find out some more about these people I had invested so much time in. And I think the finale gave me that. Every character’s awakening gave me goosebumps and chills, and some of them brought tears to my eyes.

The final scene with Jack and Vincent, just struck me to the core. Unlike a lot of other Lost fans, I’ve always been a believer in Jack because I felt that he was trying his hardest to do the right thing, even if he didn’t always know just what that was. To have Vincent lie beside him, so he wouldn’t die alone, was so moving to me. With the closing of Jack’s eye, I felt that he had finally found redemption and accomplished his purpose of “fixing things.”

In the end, Lost is just a television show, in the same way that a book is just a book, and a movie is just a movie. What the show was about, the relationships that bind us and move us along life’s path, are what matter. I’m always grateful when writers, actors, and the countless other people behind the scenes, create a moment in time when, as I turn the last page of the chapter or watch the credits role, I can sit back in amazement and say, “Wow!” So thanks to Lost, for giving me so many “Wow!” moments.