[Update: We've added even more Lost explanations!]
If you’ve visited our Lost series finale review and discussion, you know that opinion is sharply divided over how one of the biggest TV shows of the last decade came to a close.
Some people thought the ending couldn’t have been any sweeter, while others are either frustrated or disappointed with how Lost ultimately wrapped.
However, there are those out there who are currently feeling confused about how Lost came to a close and ‘what it all meant.’ So to help these (snicker) lost souls out, we thought we’d at least try and offer some quick explanations of some of the lingering questions. Hopefully it helps and doesn’t just further confuse.
It must be noted that unlike sites like Lostpedia, I haven’t done years and years of research on this. I’m just a moderate Lost fan who happens to have a good mind for literary analysis. So here goes nothing. And in case you haven’t guessed already:
[MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!]
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THEY WERE NOT “DEAD THE WHOLE TIME”
I don’t know why people are having trouble understanding this, as it is CLEARLY explained in the final minutes of the finale episode by Christian Shephard (Jack’s dad). The original Oceanic 815 plane crash happened. Everything on the Island through seasons 1-6 happened. The “flash sideways” universe introduced in season 6 was a sort of stop-over point between life and afterlife (referred to here as the “purgatory universe”).
Each person in this “purgatory universe” created a reality for themselves based on their lingering issues in life – that which they could not “let go” of. For Jack it was Daddy issues; Kate, the guilt of murder; Sawyer, the quest to find “Sawyer” and be a better man; Sayid, the unrequited love of Nadia; Charlie, looking for something “real” in his hollow life of fame, etc…
Everyone was still attached to their Earthly concerns (we’re getting very Buddhist here, bear with me) – but when they made contact with those people they’d met on the Island, they remembered the journey and growth they had experienced because of the Island, and could finally understand the connections and “purpose” brought into their damaged lives by being there. With that greater understanding of themselves, they were each ready to “leave” or “move on” to the next phase of existence – i.e., the true afterlife.
WHAT WAS THAT FINAL IMAGE OF THE CRASHED PLANE?
Some people are convinced the final image during the end credits of the Lost finale was the “clue” to the characters being dead the whole time. OK, let’s think about this: The image appears during the closing credits, after the final appearance of the “LOST” logo. That means that the story had officially ended. Saying that the biggest reveal came while the end credits were rolling is like saying a movie’s climax happens during the end credits. Not bloody likely.
The image of the plane crash (if you look closely) has memorabilia from the Lostie’s time on the beach where they first made camp. Shacks, towels, etc… it was one part nostalgia (remember where it all began?) and also one part commentary on the circular nature of the Island.
Like the Black Rock ship that brought Richard to the Island (“Ab Aeterno“), or the downed plane with the heroin that had Mr. Ecko’s brother’s corpse inside of it (“The 23rd Psalm“), the remains of Oceanic 815 and the evidence of a small community built on the beach are just more monuments of the Island. The next time somebody crashes there, they’ll see that stuff and wonder what the “mystery” behind it is…
Then they’ll whine and complain about how unsatisfying the answer is. (“What? That’s how that mystical guy “Hurley” came to the Island? LAME.”)
WHAT WAS DESMOND’S POWER?
One of the biggest things people seem to be questioning is how Desmond was able to “wake up” from the purgatory universe and how he had the know-how to “wake up” the other Losties. For that answer, you really just have to look back over the history of Desmond.
Desmond (specifically through his connection to Penny Widmore) is a sort of “constant” in the show. No matter what happens, when, or where, Desmond seems somehow immune to the Island’s energy (which has electromagnetic properties) and has a sort of awareness that can transcend space and time (his consciousness shifts seen in episodes like “The Constant“). These “shifts” and Widmore’s explanation that Desmond is special because of his resistance to the Island’s energies, imply that Desmond would even be able to “shift” his consciousness back and forth between this universe and the purgatory one, catalyzed by Widmore’s team placing him in that huge electromagnetic machine in the season six episode, “Happily Ever After“.
So, it does stand to reason (at least Lost reasoning) that Desmond – after having his consciousness “shifted” to the purgatory reality – would “wake up” after encountering HIS constant, Penny. It’s another fast and loose metaphysical explanation, but one that (for me) still works within the framework of the show.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE ISLAND’S “RULES?”
Over the course of the show people have wondered about the mythology of the Island – where it came from, what it is and what are the “rules” that govern it and its mystical protectors? Admittedly, this is an area where the showrunners played things fast and loose, hoping that the momentum of the characters’ story arcs and the whole “good vs. evil” showdown would be enough to appease most fans. Alas, not so.
Season six of Lost did a great deal to semi-explain what the island was – a sort of container for a very important energy that seemingly links this world with worlds beyond… or something. That energy is represented by light and water, and if that light goes out and the water stops flowing, the world is basically screwed. Everything magical or fantastic about the Island stems from this energy, and many of the technological oddities found on the Island (the Swan Station from season 2) are a result of the Dharma Initiative trying to harness and control that energy (i.e., man trying to bend magic and mysticism to the will of modern science).
However, there are some things that were definitely left unexplained: Why did the Man In Black become a smoke monster when he was exposed to the light (was it a manifestation of his corrupted soul)?; What is the nature of the “rules” that governed certain aspects of the Island – who could come and go, who could kill who, who was healed from injury (Locke, Rose), who lived forever (Richard). How were these rules established and maintained?
The Jacob/MIB origin episode, “Across The Sea”, attempted to fill in that aspect of the Island mythology, but what we came away with were a lot of vague pseudo-explanations. The protector of the Island basically makes up the rules and once those rules are established they are set until somebody (a new protector?) changes them. This is the reason why the MIB was obsessed with “finding a loophole” in order to kill Jacob; it’s also why Jack was ultimately able to kill the MIB. Smokey was connected to the energy source, and when Jack had Desmond “turn off” that energy, Smokey lost his powers and was merely flesh and blood again.
Makes sense…doesn’t it?
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE BABY MAMA DRAMA?
One of the earliest sub-plots of the Lost mythos was the notion that pregnant women died on the Island before they could successfully give birth. This was especially important during season one, back when Claire was pregnant with Aaron and got kidnapped and experimented on by Ethan, a memeber of The Others (“Raised by Another” & “Homecoming“). Of course we now know that Ethan was likely working with baby-doctor Juliet to help Claire – that is before Charlie killed Ethan (oops!) – and that Aaron was likely born on the Island without incident because Claire was already far enough along in her pregnancy before coming to the Island (just like Jacob and the Man In Black’s mother).
However, the pregnancy issue popped up again in season 3 when Sun learned that she was pregnant (“The Glass Ballerina” & “D.O.C.” ) and was a the prominent focus of Juliet’s flashback arch (“One of Us“). So whatever happened to the mystery of the baby mama drama?
Simple answer? Story developments made the issue a moot point in later seasons. Aaron was born fine, Sun eventually gave birth OFF the Island and Juliet died, even after she had no more pregnant patients to tend to. So really, when you think about it, there was no more of this story left to tell.
But does that excuse the fact that we never found out why pregnant women were dying on the Island? It might be bugging you, but I’m chalking this one up to being another random “rule of the Island.” Or maybe electromagnetic mystical lights just aren’t good for fetuses. Either way.
WHAT WAS WITH THE STATUE?
This is one Lost mystery I don’t really need answered. Who built the statue, why they built it and what did represent are all things you can probably find out with some historical research on ancient cultures. People who have done the research claim the statue represents a goddess or fertility or something along those lines, linking the broken statue with the Island’s baby mama drama. Personally, I can neither confirm or deny the historical relevance of the statue - if you’re curious, you should do the research.
As for the relevance of the statue to the Lost mythos: to me was evidence that the Island had been around for a long, long, time, and that people had been coming to it throughout history. So basically, it was a way to let viewers know, “This place plays a pivotal role in mankind’s existence.”
I’m not trying to look much deeper than that.
Continue to Lost contradictions and missing characters…
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“There in no ‘now’ here.” -Christian Shepherd.
I apparently disagree with most. It makes a whole lot more sense if they died in the plane crash and the island and the “alt universe” was purgatory. The “alternative universe” being part of their purgatorial journey of reconciliation. Which I also believe is why Ben said he was staying because there was more that he wanted to work on.
They didn’t Die in the Plane Crash LOL. They died in their lives, at some point they all die, because thats what Human Beings Do.
Everyone Dies.
Then they were sent to the sideways universe.
the concept of the show is convoluted, many things do not make sense. THAT’S OK. Our lives do not make any sense time-to-time. However, the value of the show is with the lines of main characters: who they were, how they progressed, and who they CHOSE to be in that convoluted madness…
Jack was always wanted to help. So, he is happy to sacrifice. Yes, he wanted to have approval and love from his father, but mainly, Jack wanted to sacrifice himself. He is nuts and that’s ok. James is a playmate and a con, but he is very likable and his main agenda was to have a nice peaceful life with a woman. Sayid was a killer, basically. In the middle of the show he wants to be a good person, but at the end he was manipulated into be a killer again… Ben is every-man: wants to do good and loves his daughter, but does many bad things, as any other person. The actor is brilliant. Kate is a confused lady due to her parents and relatives, who betrayed her. So, she lacks any commitment, has to run and she really does not know what man is her man. It is interesting that James would not bet on to stay with her. He rather stay on the “island”. He is afraid of her. Jack has no clue how to be a man with a woman. He is a good doctor but he does not know how to be a man (even with his ex-wife). I think Kate is the strongest, the most complicated and the most beautiful character in the show. Locke is strong too but more understood. and, of course, other characters bring different stories to learn from… So, to me it is about who and how got “Lost” and what they do about it. Can they find their peace in their misery or they want to fight and to change themselves or achieve their goal, and or, is it all worth it…
It makes no sense for them to have died in the plane crash. The Oceanic 6 (and Ben) leave the island for several years, and they interact with countless other characters during that time, such as Hurley’s parents, Claire’s mom, doctors at Jack’s hospital, Nadia, etc. Are they all dead too? What about Desmond? If Desmond is dead, does that mean Penny is dead as wel?
The idea of the island literally being purgatory/the afterlife only makes sense if you ignore seasons 4, 5, and 6, along with everything Damon/Carlton have ever said.
The first thing that came to my mind when Ben didn’t want to go into the church just yet was that he was a bit concerned about where he would be “moving on” to…perhaps he thought he may be heading to Hell?
@Medic,
Ben didn’t want to move on just yet because he had more he wanted to do. He wanted to go “awaken” Alex and Rouseau and move on with them. Whatever comes next after they move on, everyone will be there.. And there is no such thing as time so it’s not like he’s missing them.
once they are awakened they choose to stay or move on. Elouise is well aware she is dead but she’s to afraid to loose he son again and she seemingly has him again so she doesn’t want to move on. She chooses not to. it’s not likely that hell is in the books for Ben. His soul has moved on to the plane that (for now) Michaels could not. Which means if you’re not worthy youh it’s stick around in limbo on earth. I don’t think there is a heaven or hell in lost mythology. There is only life and what comes next after life as we know it.
Agreed. The TL;DR content on this page isn’t to be taken seriously– he even IGNORES the ending plane. That’s unacceptable.
the most confused story-line that I ever seen. Nothing checks or reconciles.
1. If they are dead after the plane crash, what “right” do some of them have to murder the other ones (like when the police lady killed accidently the blond girl)? If they are dead and are in afterlife stage, they would have to resolve their own issues or the Island should have the right to do it for them, if they can’t or “deserved” to be “punished”. So. they are not dead after the plane crash. Red Sox won the series… that’s the connection with the reality… Mikhail, the Russian, blocking the radio signals… So, the Island is real…
2. Ok… they are not dead. So, what is more superior in the story Jacob’s and his brother unresolved issues or issues of each of the main characters? Why Jacob can leave the Island and Black Smog is banned, trapped and cursed? This is the most confused part. If Jacob had the power to bring Locke to life after Locke was thrown from the balcony, if Jacob could make Richard immortal: why Jack had to die? I really liked the guy! Hugo, being Jacob’s successor, could touch Jack and Jack could stay on the Island.
I think the problem of the show is they overplayed the eval and the good, using black smoke and Jacob and mixing them with humans. Why would the black smoke let Locke to live and kill the black guy from Africa? African American guy was actually a human hero. Being a child and older brother, he rescued his younger brother from committing the murder or refusing to do so and being killed himself. Point is that there is no strong case what is the Island doing to the good, bad, confused people. There is no logic to it. The concept of the “others” is weak too. I do not understand their presence. And… God! Why Jacob had to speak Russian to Helen in the hospital? Are they all Russians on that Island?
3. the sum of the numbers 4-8-15-16-23-42 = 108, that’s the number of minutes during which the computer has to be reset. I did not see anyone to mention that anywhere… There could be some other meaning but I doubt that. Or it is not that obvious, but there is no mathematical correlation between the numbers.
4. If I said negative things above about the show, it does not mean that the show was bad. I think it is a great show. It is great by the characters and what they represent. The cast is absolutely superior. Personal relations are covering all kinds of issues and aspects of our lives. I enjoyed the love triangle between James, Kate and Jack. Kate why did you pick Jack? Or did you? Sawyer won you over, he did many things to deserve you… Jack did not do a jack… yes, he is an interesting person, professional, a leader and bla-bla-bla… but did not do anything to deserve such a love… But it is interesting to know, where I am wrong?
5. About the Island… the story could be more believable, if the authors contact someone, say a physicist with an outgoing mind… For example: the reason that Island cannot be seen from the outside could be that it has a electromagnetic anomaly that can be seen with Black Holes. Black Holes are the dead stars, they are do not “shine”, like the Sun, but they are sock everything, even the light, due to the tremendous gravity… The deviation of that idea could be that Island. And say, to leave the island you need to spin that wheel to cancel out the electromagnetic waves. Thus, the Island becomes weak to keep everything within itself. That is just one minute idea, but is more imaginable than “moving the Island” in the show. Why? and where to? Plus, Bermuda Triangle is something that could be referenced and making it more real…
Again, I liked the show very much. I saw it within 2 weeks. I cannot imagine the actors actually filming it for 6 years or more.. Maybe Jack has become a real doctor by now and Sawyer and Kate have become some kind of military experts, shooting different types of guns and surviving in jungles…
hi, alexander i agree with much of what u said about the characters, especially about kate, she the most strongest and complicated character..even when she is strong you perceive in her some..vulnerability, and her difficulty trying to get who is her man, also explain why she is one of the most complicated characters of the show, and i think that is the main reason why kate, alongside jack is one of my favourite characters.
yes, she is special..
I recently saw a panel with Abrams, was curious about the course of miracles allusions, all a dream type… But Christian concludes by saying everyone is real… If anyone is versed on the course.. Everyone seems so sure of themselves on a singular, all defining finale and notion of what the hell six years of TV was when the writers wrote each episode haphazardly, not knowing what will be on next episode, that’s from the creators mouth
J.J. Abrams left ‘LOST’ after the Pilot Episode.
Although his ideas were imprinted on the show’s early seasons, he had no role in writing episodes or producing content.
So when he says stuff you have to take it with a grain of salt.
Everything in the show happened, and they did a great job making it seem like it all was planned to end the way it did.
you do not need to know what’s the next episode would be, you have to know where everything has to go, if you are a screen writer.
I think this show has to get a great admiration of how they pieced it all together: different characters/stories, different timelines, different places, at the same time, at the different times, before, now, after…
If you want the TRUE meaning of the island…….here it is.
http://ericknowsitall.com/ultimate-lost-theory/
Let me know what you all think.
There’s some really cool ideas in there, but there’s a LOT of tenuous stuff that doesn’t hold together. It’s a lot of square pegs and round holes. This, in particular, jumped out to me:
“Locke’s past wasn’t as dark as Mr. Eko’s was.”
Knowing everything we know about Locke’s past, that’s a pretty ridiculous statement. It’s a really poor attempt at an explanation for Locke seeing something “beautiful” when he saw the Monster.
Locke’s past was pretty darn dark, and I would say probably more depressing than Eko’s.
Locke saw the flashes from the Smoke Monster as it read his past, much like it did with Juliette, and he found it beautiful.
I know I know I know…..I hate LOOONG reads too, but this is all you’ll ever need to know about the show.
It doesn’t make sense for the island to have been part of purgatory.
Christian Shepard said that the island was the most important part of the Losties’ lives, and thus they created the purgatory reality to settle things and be together before moving on to whatever phase of existence was next.
Again, he said the island was the most important part of their LIVES.
In regards to the pregnancy issue, I feel it’s pretty definitively explained that The Incident caused the fertility problems. Shortly before the bomb goes off, we know Ethan is born on the island just fine, and everything else following the events of 1977 indicate that woman started dying.
In regards to the DHARMA purge, it’s left ambiguous but considering everything we know about Jacob, it makes no sense that he would order the deaths of those people. Taking everything into account, it seems clear that Widmore ordered the purge, and I feel that this was the final straw for Jacob cutting ties with “his people.” I feel we’re led to believe that DHARMA was brought there by Jacob, and he wanted to foster peace between the groups– another example of trying to prove the inherent goodness in humankind. It was another failure, though. We know Ben never met Jacob, so once he manipulated his way into Widmore’s position, I believe The Others as a religious society were fully corrupted, and opened the door to being manipulated by The Man in Black. It all fits together quite nicely when you look at the big picture.
When it comes to “the rules,” they may have changed their minds about the direction of Widmore/Ben and correlation between various references to “rules”, but there are also no blatant contradictions or a lack of explanation. Ben’s entire goal throughout the series was to destroy Locke and reclaim his power over The Others; if you view all of his actions from season 2 onward through that lense, it makes perfect sense. He couldn’t kill Widmore because, as we saw in the much-hated “Stranger in a Strange Land,” the Others are not forgiving towards murdering their own. Even though Widmore was ousted, we see young Ben being healed in the pool will make him “always” one of them, which means: Once an Other, always an Other. Widmore and Ben, in their dispute over control of the Island, agreed that they’d leave each others daughters out of their feud (Sort of a gentleman’s agreement), but the death of Alex “changed the rules.”
In regards to what the bomb did, the differences between the two hatch implosions can be chalked up to mere continuity issues. It was four years later, and the hatch set was gone, so they needed to build a new one and it just looked different. The bomb explosion was the incident mentioned by Chang in the orientation video, which caused the Swan button protocol to be enacted from 1977 onwards. There is no timeline alteration or overlap; it’s just a simple example of “What happened, happened.”