[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!!!]
-
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…
‘Anchorman 2′ Trailers Tease the Return of Ron Burgundy’s News Team [Updated] 
Hugh Jackman Reveals Summer Start Date for ‘Wolverine 2′ 
‘Walking Dead’ Season 3 Preview Reveals The Prison & Michonne [Updated] 
‘Iron Man 3′ Begins Production; Secures Increased Budget 
Loading ...
Also,
Jacob wanted nothing of the lab tests… ei the DI and the brilliant men MIB spoke of to his mother whom had “ideas” and who were going to help him leave this place… Jacob had the DI killed with the help of Ben… MIB was the one using all of them to try and find the “light” … a way off the island. I don’t think the DI was brought by Jacob… none of them were candidates… we all know that people made there way to the island without Jacobs help because there have been many people there for centuries… for example… the men there when he was young. MIB was the one interested in the humans experiments. He wanted off. He was working with some of the early residents to achieve that goal before mommy dearest offed all of them.
Travis,
I appreciate you taking the time and hope my questions don’t turn you away. I read this yesterday and was like WOW how did I miss all of this. Then I read it 2 or three times more then slept on it.
Jacob was bringing candidates to the Island to…. replace himself as he was tired of doing whatever it was that needed to be done. In order to be replaced he had to have been “killed”. He cant kill himself, Smokie cant kill him and vice versa. If he (Jacob) or another candidate is “alive” Smokie cant leave the Island. (If not he could have gotten on the sub at anytime) Smokie cant kill candidates directly, only candidates can kill candidates. Smokie can only be killed if the power to the Island is turned off. The only person (non Candidate) that can turn the power off is Desmond.
So.. Jacob was bringing people to the island to replace him if/when he got killed. Smokie didnt want him replaced (or alive) so he acted accordingly trying to get Jacob killed so he can be released from the Island. AND Jacob wanted Smokie “dead” to correct his mistake(?).
1. Since Desmond was not a candidate and was not brought to the Island by Jacob how was Jacob expecting MiB to be “killed” fixing what he did wrong?
2. Why couldnt MiB then subsequently Smokie (MiB is the brother pre smokie) leave the Island? Another way of asking this is why did the mother not want him to leave?
3. Who or what was in the Cabin? It was either to keep smokie in or smokie out.
Locke and Linus.
Linus killed Locke. By virtue of returning to life (and getting support from his dead daughter) Linus follows Locke to be convinced to skewer Jacob. Im a little unclear, however, as it appears you ellude to a Candidate had to be indirectly (not directly) responsible for killing Jacob.
1. Dead Locke is no longer a candidate. It is not even his own body as evident by the Locke body in the casket. It is a shape shifting Smokie. So a Candidate did not persuade Linus to kill Jacob. Smokie convinced Linus to kill Jacob which leads me to believe Smokie should have been able to convince “anyone” to kill Jacob. I find it hard to believe after all those years and all of those people Linus was the first.
2. Why have Eloise have people go through that hooplah to get back to the island when all they had to do was follow Widmore. They both wanted to stop Smokie from getting off the Island. They could have come to some agreeable terms and all got on the same sub if not seperate subs. Nope they brought Dead Locke via Ilana to show people Smokie was Locke and not to “follow” him which in turn would have stopped Ben from killing Jacob…. which is what Jacob wanted all along (be killed)…. Kind of defeats the purpose?
Im trying to keep this in context to the small area of LOST we are speaking about Jacob/Smokie and the Island.
The Island had for easy remembrence… a cork in it. If the cork was removed per “Mother” the light goes out and its darkness for all of the earth. If MiB or Jacob entered there they would suffer a fate worse then death. I will assume being Smokified. MiB and Jacob “aged” so they had not become a Richard yet.
1. Who was able to put the cork there in the first place?
2. Why were there skeletons near the cork? MiB for all purposes was normal before he went in why didnt he get the skeleton treatment?
3. What happens if a “Richard” goes down there? (just a funny type question I mean if warned that it COULD kill him and being a candidate couldnt Jack go down there and live as he cant kill himself?)
OOOOOO I answered my own question.. Jacob and MiB were candidates to replace mother. If a candidate went down there “Smokie!” if a normal human went down there Toast.
I enjoy ping ponging this stuff.
@Inamoto.
Smokie as Locke took the explosives off the plane. He placed them in a knapsack for Jack to carry on board the sub. Once the sub exploded with all the candidates onboard there would be no protector and Smokie could then get in the plane and leave the Island.
So the plane was safe.
aknot… so you know, I wrote a bunch of replies …. forgot to hit reply on your thread…. so they’re all on here if you still wanna read my answers to your questions.
Travis… I got them and printed them out. My eyes are not so good..
That and work has me fairly busy so I can come here (site) for all of 2-3 mins at a time. I have yet to formulate a response.
i have just watched the final episodes last night (I live in China, had to buy the DVDs…) & I really enjoyed it. I don’t feel totally resolved, but I thought the ending tied up most ends – more than I thought it would somewhere around season 4, anyway…I thought it shared a lot of characteristics with Battlestar Galactica, the ending was exciting, moving, and beautifully shot…even if not making full & complete sense
One question that bugged me although I may just have missed something (apologies if this is an obvious answer) – they all got on the plane at the end & flew to safety. But a few episodes earlier, the plane was rigged with explosives & no-one thought it safe. Even Widmore said he had it rigged since he landed
Was the plane safe or not??
oh and sorry by the way, one other point I can throw in – the reason Eko wasn’t in the church at the end was because the actor had a salary row with the producers…this was mentioned on this site, I’ve seen it confirmed elsewhere also (Wikipedia, so it must be true….)
Hey Aknot…
I really enjoy bouncing ideas off each other as well… if nothing more, weather people perceive the writing of lost as good or bad… the beauty of it is that it has enabled all of this creative thinking. Right or wrong on theories and thoughts it’s still fun as hell to put your picture together. Though it’s more fun to think we’re right!!! A few of your ponders really inspired me… especially, the why hasn’t MIB convinced anyone to kill him yet…
That answer I’ll address in order of questions asked… and it’s a good one. 
I’ll post in sections for you to read since they’re probably gonna get … Lengthy. 
So I’ll address your questions and comments the best way I know how, in true lost fashion… my take on things.
This is the first installment! First 3 answers…
1. Desmond was no doubt one of the so called “special” ones on the island. I’ve long thought that Desmond was definitely brought to the island by Jacob to do exactly what he was meant to do. Let’s not forget that he had been shooting himself up with darma juice for a few years while in the hatch… who knows what that was… signs would lead to nothing, but who knows? It could have something to do with his resistance to the EM on the island. Though my best theory of why he can do what he does is as follows… I’ve also always thought that during his time in the hatch is when he developed his resistance to the EM just by being so close to it for so long. He was constantly served small amounts of it on a daily basis… it’s just like taking small amounts of poison everyday… eventually the body will become immune. Now that being said, Lost likes to show you/tell you one thing but mean another. Pushing the button was supposed to be saving the world… we know now that Desmond did aid in that in the end. What if by saving the world by pushing the button, they really meant, pushing the button is a means to absorbing enough EM to be able to save the world in season six when the time comes.
Remember that Widmore had to test Desmond’s resistance to be sure… it wasn’t an absolute certainty. We know that Jacob asked Widmore to do this so Jacob at least presumed Desmond was up for the task. I think Jacob brought Desmond to the island to become the weapon in which he became. It was all part of a long (centuries long) plan development in order to eventually fix what he’d done. And he would need “a Desmond”. 
Desmond’s link to Penny was huge throughout the entire series and no doubt Jacob knew that, so Desmond was picked for that particular reason. Desmond would hold strong and not blow his brains out the previous guy… because of his love and desire to one day be back with Penny. Desmond was the “fail safe” the entire time. That was foreshadowed when he first turned the fail safe key which destroyed the Swan. Okay… moving on.
2. As for mother not wanting MIB to leave, first of all, she was freaking crazy… also MIB was a candidate and as we’ve come to know, candidates just don’t get up and leave the island. And when they do, their lives turn to s***… all that come to the island come for a reason. Also, MIB was “special”, this was never really explained, but just like Walt, MIB inexplicably knew things. He told his mother this in the well when talking about pushing the wheel and leaving. Remember how as a child MIB just “knew” how to play backgammon? Interesting that the game was given to him to find by his mother… and that it was Locke’s game of choice. Also interesting, did you know that there is a rule in backgammon called the “jacoby rule”
Anyways, Simply put I believe that Mother initially wanted MIB to take her place, not Jacob. She would continue to fight for this until her death. She knew her time was numbered when Jacob joined her as the protector of the light. … Which is always a question I’ve had, if only the protector can find the light and/or show people where it is… then why does it need protecting? … Thought it was obviously found before because some one put the cork there… and if you read up on ancient civilizations, it’s said that life began in Egypt, thus all the Egyptian symbols and structures. All we need to know is that the islands story didn’t start with Jacob and MIB… just that it’s the chapter we’re seeing.
3. As for the Cabin, it was originally used by Jacob. This is presumably where he lived for period of time. Alana says in the season 5 final that Jacob hasn’t been there for a long time and that someone else had been using it. Someone else being Smokie. He used the cabin as a device to continue the gaining of trust in Locke. Remember when Ben first showed Locke the cabin Locke heard someone say “help me” … that was MIB whispering inspiration in his ear. Because we know know that MIB needed Locke to help him… help him kill Jacob.
It was more clever, we’ll show you one thing but mean another, writing approach. Jacob moved into the foot from the cabin… I’m guessing Jacob built the cabin as a temporary home, then later on after more discovery of his new kingdom, rented out the foot as his new dwelling. I think Jacob was trying to keep the monster away from him while he stayed there since he was probably fearful of it at first… wouldn’t you be? And in his infancy as the islands protector he didn’t know much… it would seem like something he would do at the time to keep whatever demon it was away from him. Now it would also make sense flipped the other way but since Alana said that it used to be Jacob’s … I’m sticking with it’s where Jacob spent much of his time as a dwelling in his early days on the job.
1. Desmond – Then why not show the connection of Desmond and Jacob? Who were the other “special ones”? I like YOUR answer to how it could have happened. However I have a better explanation. Walt was going to be the original plug puller. He was “special” he was brought to the Island by Jacob. You notice just as he was absent from the show Desmonds role got bigger and bigger. Also the previous guy did not blow hi brains out. The guy right before Desmond was ready to leave the Island… till Des killed him…
2. Mother – No back story to explain HOW she garnered the powers that was eventually passed on. Why do you think she was crazy? No crazier then some religous zealot that is a firm believer. Also you mention a few things that are “not explained”… that is the whole reason behind the uproar. there is a LOT that is not explained or even eluded to.
3. The Cabin – The Cabin was circled by ASH correct? Up until the point the Ash line was broken. We can only assume the ash line was NOT broken when the plane crashed, when Locke visited and was broken between it last being seen and Illanas group pointing out the circle was broken. Who broke the circle? IF that was MiB in the cabin he should not have been allowed to leave the cabin (ash protects as shown in the foot) so who was the Smoke monster in the woods in the first couple of episode before we even saw the ash circle?
Aknot,
I wasn’t speaking about the guy before Desmond… I was speaking of the original architect of the Swan (Kazinsky)… he blew his brains out with a shotgun. Leaving the stain on the ceiling… Desmond was told all about it. Remember?
There were many connections never actually shown, all we need to know is that Jacob brought people to the island and since Desmond was a major player it’s extremely safe to say that Jacob brought him there. Especially considering the fact that Desmond would eventually bring down the plane that brought the Losties. Not everything in Lost needs to be explained to formulate Theories. That’s not how the show operated, it demanded strict attention and encouraged creative thinking.
It actually can’t be assumed that the ash was broken at any point… we know that Ilana says that Jacob hasn’t used it in a VERY long time… this being said, again, that would mean that smokey has been using it for a very long time… meaning that the ash was more than likely broken long before the losties got there.
Wait… so we have to ASSUME Jacob brought more then candidates? I mean he brought flawed people and people to test… So now we must assume he brings others for other reasons not explained?
See that is where my issue lies. If it was hinted or eluded to (like Widmore) and not directly said I can see. You know like Jacob said someone was coming…
However to have your audience have to assume something is bad story telling. Why cant we assume MiB brought him there? Why cant we assume the little black box brought him there? I mean we have no proof to the contrary. It could have been little pink cherubs for all we know. If a connection is eluded to or hinted at fine.
Yes but the station had 2 people in it. One blew his brains out the other was the Kurgan. They lived there together til Kman smoked a shotgun.
Why cant it be assumed… you are assuming other stuff? the assumption comes because it was shown that Locke by direction of Ben was to be careful when he stepped near the ash. So with that “Clue” there was a logical connection that the ash was not broken at that point.
Unlike your assumption with Jacob. Jacob brings candidates and people to test. Desmond did not fall under either of those categories that fit with the rest.
As for Desmond bringing the plane down…. Jacob was shown to have influence to bring others (ship in the calm waters then the “storm”) why did he need Desmond to bring the plane down when he could have flipped the switch himself and not died?
Hey Aknot!!!
Second installment… Hope you liked the first three answers about Smokie and Jacob.
Now on to Linus and Locke
1. As for why MIB hadn’t tried to convince anyone to kill Jacob yet… he tried… he tried and tried and tried… Linus wasn’t the first, the first we saw was Richard. Remember he initially sent Richard to do it after TRYING to convince him that Jacob was the devil. Though it just wasn’t going to be that easy. It is said multiple times in season 6 by multiple characters, “don’t let him speak, if he speaks, it’s already to late.” This is said by Dugen (asian leader of the temple) to Sayid about MIB and it’s said by MIB to Richard about Jacob. This is true of the the two of them (jacob and mib) if they get a chance to talk to you… it’s over, you’re convinced and on their side. Al was given a choice and he chose Jacob… So MIB did try, I’m sure he tried much more than that… and came to realize convincing another human to kill (especially a candidate) is harder than it looks, and would take some serious planning (loop hole). I think only a Candidate can kill Jacob, and I still think that Ben was a candidate… he did end up ruling with Hugo after all. Miles told Ben after Jacob died that Jacob was hoping he was right about Ben. We know that Albert recruited Ben… this was more than likely Jacob’s order. So I do think Ben was a candidate, at least at one point or another. We know Ben broke the rules so he probably fell from Jacob’s favor rather quickly. Ben broke the rules more than likely by being influenced by MIB… just as Locke was. I’m sure MIB had his eye on Ben for a long time, he would have to since he was the one that would eventually do the deed… We know that Locke encounters Smokie in season 1. It is here that Smokie decides that Locke will be his loop hole… Locke will be the one to finally convince a candidate (ben) to kill Jacob. Remember that Jacob didn’t tamper with his candidates… he let them chose and gave them guidance in the form of Richard. Now Smokie surely liked to give the influence himself… I’m betting he was steering Ben in the wrong direction for a longtime. Locke was the straw that broke the camels back… then plunged a knife into Jacob’s chest.
Now holy crap I have to get back to work… I’ll continue later on!!! …
Killing of MiB or Jacob -
Jacob had the only weapon that could kill him. (or was that a fallacy?) How did MiB get it back? You would think if there was one item that could kill you it would be kept away from those that wish to kill you… Why was that dagger so important?
How can it be that so many people through so many centuries were never convinced to kill Jacob? I find that very hard to believe.
Well then the catch (to cover that is) you need to be a candidate to be able to kill Jacob…. then why would Jacob want to bring Candidates that could conceivably kill him releasing MiB?
It is a Catch-22 that if the ends were as bad as Jacob made them out to be (Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!) then why take the chance to only replace him? He knew no other life. He could bounce through time and or at the very least leave the Island without issue.
Makes no sense.
The picking of Candidates makes even less sense. Everyone has “issues” in some form or another. Speaking of… what was Hugos issues? Daddy left? Happens to millions of people a year. Overbearing/caring mother? Same thing.
Another “rewrite” from what I understand was Jack was not going to be that important. That was until his popularity took off. So they changed some things…. Which like Walt and Des above could change story lines that were originally cohesive to the pile of poo we recieved.
If you re-watch you’ll see that the knife used by linus to kill jacob wasn’t the same knife, the knife you’re speaking of was in the temple being protected by doogen. This knife was never proven of having any special powers at all… just nostalgia.
Aknot… dude you’re being sort of ridiculous about some of this stuff… if someone had killed Jacob there would be no story… on top of that I already explained this answer to you… the convincing of a candidate to kill Jacob is a very long tiring and hard task to complete… that’s why it took so long. MIB was trying to find his loop hole. And eventually he was able to put the puzzle together when the RIGHT pieces were available… ei BEN AND LOCKE. Remember that Jacob is very convincing… he changed Richards mind quickly. Jacob wasn’t just going to be killed by just anyone… as I stated he knew it was coming and he let it happen… this is because he knew that his replacement was there and had finally arrived and that this was what had to happen. The relationship between Ben and Locke had to be there… this type of person as Ben was, had to be present, his life had to develop the way it did, the hatred for Jacob had to build into the manipulation it became. Again, I answered this… Jacob brought the candidates to the island to eventually take his place and correct what he did in making the smoke monster… he couldn’t do it… he needed someone else to become him to do it. It all makes perfect sense to me…
Hugo had multiple issues… for one he was 1000 pounds and was never going to find love. On top of that he thought he was cursed… and bad things did always happen around him… he hated his life and was constantly trying to figure out why it was so bad… That’s why he was on the plane in the first place.
And really… Jack wasn’t supposed to be that important??? … He was the lead character for Christian Shepards Sake!!!! What???? He was the first thing we see as the show opens… and from the get go the writers knew they were ending the show with his eye closing… so umm… he was pretty pivotal.
And this is another thing that makes me so irritated about everyone that doesn’t understand the changes that have to occur during a series that lasts this long. A show starts with a concept, writers are hired and they write… a show that last SIX F8USKING seasons isn’t all written before hand… they write as they go with the concept intact… they know the direction and what they want to do and they do the best job they can as humans to give us a compelling story… and they did that. Of course there is going to be changes and rewrites… behind the story real life is happening to people… actors die, get fired, get arrested… have creative differences… and thus stories have to be changed… things happen.
“if someone had killed Jacob there would be no story”
But THAT is the story. You said yourself:
Jacob was tired and wanted a replacement.
The only way to replace him is to get candidates to the Island.
The only way to Kill MiB (or Jacob) is a Candidate.
I guess the point I was trying to put across is after ALL those peoples and civilizations came to that Island just now someone was able to kill Jacob. There were a lot of… (for lack of batter words) uncivilized people that should have been able to be convinced to kill Jacob. Oh but wait they would have to be Candidates that Jacob himself brought..
Really Jack WASNT supposed to be that important….
“In the commentary track on the Season 1 DVD, the producers explained that the character of Jack as the de facto leader of the survivors was intended to be killed off in “The Pilot, Part 1″ by the Monster, with Kate becoming the de facto leader.”
“A show starts with a concept, writers are hired and they write… a show that last SIX F8USKING seasons isn’t all written before hand…”
No but the F8USKING creator of the show on numerous occasion stated he knew the beginning and the end. Just because the other writers drove into brick walls during their journey ruining the overall experience should have no bearing on the show right?
I will assume the biggest issue was making the show longer then it was intended to be. Not the writers fault. The studio pulled that one. I was under the impression it was to last about 4 seasons. So now these writers had to cram stuff into a show that theoretically should have already been over.
Aknot….
Answers continued,
Okay, the Eloise issue isn’t as easy to unravel but it’s much easier to understand when you remember that she knew that Jack, Kate, and Hurley were going to time travel!!!… the simple answer would be that they straight up couldn’t return to the right time on the island any other way than that, so most importantly she wasn’t sending them to the current island… she was sending them to the 1970′s island!!! Eloise said that they had to return as closely to how they first arrived, this was in order to trigger the time travel. The biggest thing is that Eloise knew they weren’t returning to the same “time” on the island, that’s why she was so insistent on them going when they were (so they would pass over the island at one of the time travel opportunities). Eloise knew they would only be able to do it at that certain point because of the equipment she was using measured when those moments took place.
Pretty simple when you think about it actually. And as for Widmore, at that point, he didn’t know how to get there… the island had been moved remember. The only reason he showed up is because Jacob visited him and told him where it was. Otherwise, he had no clue where it had gone to. Now as for the whole why send Locke business… That’s one thing Eloise and Widmore DIDN’T know about at that time. Eloise’s knowledge of the future ended with sending them back to the island… after that, that was it. She was in the dark as much as everyone else. Also, Locke had to go, ultimately, Jacob wanted what happened to happen… he practically welcomed it. He wasn’t surprised to see MIB show up as John Locke… it was a means to an end… literally “the end”.
Okay, on to the cork business and your final inquiries…
First I’ll cover the skeletons, if Jack hadn’t gone down and left the rope for Desmond, he’d of eventually died down there and became a skeleton himself. I think you hit it on the head, regular men would just die, and a candidate would become a smokie. Remember though that nothing happened to Desmond until he actually stepped into the water. So it is possibly for men to have traveled down just to have no way out and die a slow painful death. Remember, man had been seeking the light for thousands of years. Your bound to get a dead guy or two. MIB was unconscious when he went down, the water brought him straight into the pool without him being able to stop himself. But as for who I think the skeletons where … they are most likely from the extremely ancient, probably Egyptian civilization that first inhabited the island, put the cork there in the first place, and built all the structures. I like to think of the cork as a much more important, much bigger swan station. Remember the light and the EM of the island was a source of energy that flowed through it. The swan dig sight accidentally tapped into it, which in turn started to release the energy. They built the swan station to “cork it”. Just a more sophisticated method.
It’s not crazy to say the the cork was the ancient civilizations version of the swan, a means to control the energy that they tapped into when building and trying to harness the islands power. Pulling the cork is just like not pushing the button. 
And boom goes the dynamite!!!
As for immortals like Richard and Jack going down and living, we can figure that at least Jack (a protector) would have been fine… the EM had no effect on him, he died from the knife wound. So that being said, it would seem as if the protector can enter the light if he/she so chooses to. But security guards generally don’t go in the vault and play in the money at the bank so I don’t see the reason Jacob or even Richard would have needed to go down at anytime. Plus, Jacob didn’t know what would happen to him if he went down, all he knew is what it did to his brother and that his mother said it would be horrible… the soul being ripped from the body type of horrible.
Anyways,
Hope you enjoyed!!!! Let me know what you think and if you have any other inquiries!! I’ve got tons of other theories!!! From the baby drama to the H bomb.
Eloise – and time travel…
But why did Sun not go to 1970? How did they pick and choose who went? On the original flight no one “disappeared” in a time poof… they all ended up on the Island (like Sun, Frank, Illana etc.) tail section or front section.
What made this trip different then the others?
Why was Eloise in the dark? She lived through most of it. Whats done is done. She knew what would happen from 1970 and on….
So the “source” only required a stone cork while a subset of the main needed the Swan to contain it? Again… MOST times if energy expands its power dissipates. Not on this Island apparently.
While I enjoy your answers no one is sure they are 100% correct right? they are jsut your opinion… so I could conceivably make up my own as could 3 or 4 other people.
That is the biggest issue with the questions not being answered. It is not like they gave us one or two options. They just tossed 100 puzzle pieces all in a perfect square with no features or colors and told us to make a square. So mine is a rectangle, yours is a square someone else turned my rectangle sideways etc… we used all the same pieces just came out with a different solution. That is crappy story telling. It wasnt a puzzle that was put together with 2 pieces left that could be interchangeably put in the last 2 spots and have the picture make sense no matter which spot you used.
Well dude… that’s the beauty of it… either you liked or you didn’t. I’m happy I did cause I can enjoy it… I absolutely love the fact that I’m given the ability to sit and think creatively about it. Sorry your so unhappy with the show. I guess you should just move on dude… cause you’re not gonna get the answers you seek for the writers… they left that up to you and I.
Well thats another problem I would have. “I guess you should just move on dude…”
Just because I think it is wrong and crappy story telling I should move on?
I like the way your tone has changed. See that is the issue with assumptions and thinking creatively about it. Since they left that option up to us you could be incorrect. Yet you are so bent on it being correct and there is no room for others to tell you otherwise as it wa left up to you…
Again I like your answers yet they are all built on speculation. Im unhappy with the ending of the show.
My answers are they wrote themselves into a corner because the studio stretched the series out longer then it was intended. It then got to the point they didn’t have enough time to cover everything so they took a stab in the dark and placed everything on the shoulders of the viewers washing their hands of it.
Even those choose as you go books make sense as the options they give (albeit different ones) all correlate to the story.
Aknot…
My point is that while I’m trying to give help and ideas by using what Lost gave us to work from, you’re just talking about how bad it was and being very negative. If you didn’t enjoy it than “move on”… or maybe you can’t and you can whisper to people about how bad the show was to new candidates with Michael back on the island.
It’s like you sit and look for reasons the show doesn’t work and my tone changes because your starting to get ridiculous about it. Asking, what about this and what about that… and wait what if pink little monsters brought Desmond to the island… Aknot that’s just silly and not helpful to anyone. I’m not saying am “right” or “correct” about anything, that would be impossible. They are my theories. I’m here to make sense of things and help those think about things differently while you and others are just being negative and saying it was a load of “elephant crap”. So I’m saying if you don’t like it and you’re hell bent on something always not making sense and no amount of creative thinking is going to change that, then move, stop asking questions because the fact is that there will always be questions with Lost. That’s what Lost was about. It was a lot like life… not everything is answered. I could give to elephant craps less whether or not the writers got stumped or added things or left things for the imagination or wrote something never intending to go back to it…. I LOVED THE SHOW and I now love to try and put the pieces together… I know I’m not correct on everything because there is no correct answer cause there is no answer… it’s just formulate ideas using what Lost gave us. I think that’s part of the fun. So go ahead and be mad and hate on the show, it’s just that it’s starting to get counter productive. You don’t make sense in your questions anymore bringing in what-ifs that are far fetched and have nothing to with story. I honestly really enjoy bouncing this stuff around as I said before. That’s part of the fun of it. And just as I may be wrong about my assumptions at least I’m trying. You’re just assuming that nothing made sense and complaining all the time.
Yes but you on the other hand sit and try to make it work out of nothing but “assumptions”.
Lost was about questions? I thought it was about the Characters?
“I know I’m not correct on everything because there is no correct answer cause there is no answer…”
There is always an answer. However if that answer can not be justified and is only hearsay it is not really an answer only an excuse.
No im just saying there is no solid basis of the answer presented based on fact and or what was shown to us.
Most times your answers are based around to many “what ifs”.
Lets take a story about a little girl and Santa. Hell lets take Miracle on 34th Street. In the ending we are left with the options of him REALLY being Santa. Or maybe just a Rich eccentric old man that likes to bring happiness to people. The great part of that story is we have “proof” to both of those trains of thought.
Lost did not do that.
If I can pose a question as to “why” and the only answer to that is because without “proof” then why tell a story? Why not just say hey these people were on a plane and they died?
I loved the show too that is why I am so adamant about the crappy way it ended. The loose ends that were eluded to and or that were never tied up. The fact that some people believe we are supposed to just fill in the blanks any way we want to.
Well dear Aknot,
How about you and I just agree to disagree. We both loved the show (at least you say you did though your comments are to the contrary) … it would seem our differences lie in our level of fulfillment and closure. You weren’t happy with the end and I was. No big deal. I enjoy making my own assumptions as do you. We can definitely agree on that. I’m sorry that you’re not happy with what we’re left with, I really am… its unfortunate and I wish for all the time that you put in watching and following the show you could feel as fulfilled as I do with the outcome. Here’s to hoping you can find something within Lost that you can be happy about. I think I’m done discussing these issues with you seeing that I’m not at all concerned with how the writers went about getting it done. I can’t change what they did and I can’t control the story… it is what it is and we’re left with it. Would I have changed things or done things different in some ways? Of course I would have, but it wasn’t my story to control. It was my story to watch and perceive. It’s silly to say, “well, they should have done this, or why not this or that, or why not just have Sayid kill Jacob?” Simply answered, because that’s not what happened. You can’t watch a story and say, “well why not this, this could work”? A lot of things could work, but if it’s not the story it’s not the story. I know you’re going to be upset with this statement, but things are just how they are and they happened that why “just because” could it happen another way, sure it could, but that goes for every story in the history of time… you’re just upset they didn’t do it your way… and you’re dealing with it. Plus, not to get back into things but… Sayid never had the chance to kill Jacob since he never came back to that time after the event in the road happened… plus there was NO WAY MIB would have known Jacob did what he did seeing that MIB wasn’t there to witness it… and it wasn’t part of MIB’s master plan, he had already been planing on Ben (plus again, this is the story they chose to go with, it’s what happened. A simple answer, again, is it’s just what happened! It didn’t happen any other way because it didn’t)… and on top of that you probably wouldn’t of been happy with that either. The point here is there is always more than one way to tell a story, you can go a million different ways. The fact is “what happened, happened”. The answer to your “why nots” is simply “because, it didn’t happen that way”. I already know you won’t understand what I’m trying to say, you haven’t understood most of what I’ve said. Like when I say Lost is about questions… I’m saying that’s all it’s about and nothing else… dir… I’m saying that’s it’s part of it’s make up as a show… it’s how it’s written and it’s what drives the story. Not the only thing, but part of. You’re being to literal!! Also… Yes, I’m absolutely happy with knowing that in the end they all end up together and move on into eternity. I don’t need to know what Kate, Sawyer and everyone else did from leaving the island on until they died. I don’t care. To me that’s small potatoes. Dharma Potatoes.
We can assume a lot of things about what they did, but in the end it DOESN’T matter. They end up together. And yes we can assume they end up with all the other important people in there as well, mothers, fathers, friends, people that were also important to them… these are just the people they moved on with… moved on to something bigger than any of us can even begin to understand. And back to my original point… THESE WERE THE CHARACTERS of the story and way of telling it so that it made sense. There is no other way to tell a story then with the characters you have. Period. If they started adding in everyone’s family members and pets into the church it would have been ridiculous. Of course Christians Wife (Jack’s mom) is waiting for him in eternity, as well as Kate’s friend with the toy plane and so on. Just because they moved on with just these people doesn’t mean that’s all that’s there waiting for them. It’s just a means to moving on and helping eachother as they helped eachother in real life on the island. Christian had probably already moved on… he was just there to help them get across. As a story telling element. It doesn’t have to be explained. Most of these things can be explained as simply a way to tell the story.
I could go on and on… obviously, and this is obviously going nowhere… you didn’t like the end… simple as that. Agree to disagree… I’d comment on your other issues with the show but it’s not like you’d give any of the ideas a chance… it seems if they’re not coming from the horses mouth you’re not happy with them… so, stop asking us questions if you’re already dead set on not excepting the answers at very least “a good possibility, or a decent way to get from A to B”.
(line breaks!!!!!!
)
“It’s silly to say, “well, they should have done this, or why not this or that, or why not just have Sayid kill Jacob?””
Yes but that is exactly what YOU are doing when you assume to fill in the gaps for them… Because THEY didnt do it.
““just because” could it happen another way, sure it could, but that goes for every story in the history of time…”
Yes but most of your stories in time give you everything up to and including the end. Lost did not. There is no “make it up yourself”.. there is a perceive it yourself but not a gee im to lazy just add something in here.
“you’re just upset they didn’t do it your way”
This is where you are completely incorrect. They didnt do it “any way”. They threw it out there and left it. They didn’t explain “it”. You are the one that is making up things your way. Then think that just because peopel disagree you get defensive.. (your tone changed when I questioned and challenged you… )
Yes but the whole point of everyone “getting” it was for them to move on. At what point can everyone move on while waiting for someone else…??
No you wont comment on my other issues because quite franky you probably cant logically explain it in the context of the story as they didnt give you (us) enough information. Which is the issue I and others have.
As I said earlier somewhere else.. I can make up stuff also. (actually I think I said I can pull it out of my butt..) What makes the stuff I make up “right” especially if it is different then yours?
Case in point you pointed out the Sawyer and 3 years…. I proved it was 4 years and in no way could have been the time traveling Sawyer… I used facts from the show.
All you are doing is “covering” for the writers by guessing what could/should have been. That again is not good story telling if your readers/viewers have to make the stuff up on their own because they didnt.
I told you I loved it up until they ended it because they left so much unanswered. You are trying to answer it in your own way. I wanted them to answer it it was their story not yours.
The knife issue… I concur left it alone after I checked it… That was fact. anything we do from here is guessing. Which we shouldnt have to do.
… Aknot,
First off… I can logically answer any question you have… that part of why I believe so strongly that they did give us plenty more than enough to go with. I’ve created sound logical theories for every question any one has ever asked me about the show. Period. I’ve yet to find something I can’t make an answer for given what we have to work with. If you’d like to challenge me… please do.
Now…
I believe and I stress “I”, that people move on when they chose to once they are awakened and when they’re ready. As shown by Linus staying behind. He has work yet to do in the purgatory world. He wants to “wake up” Rousseau and Alex so he decides to stay and continue working on his own issues. He’s just not ready and that’s for him to decide as a character and that’s perfectly OKAY.
I’m not getting defensive, I getting annoyed. You’re asking questions and then when I give my own opinion you come back and say “NO” that’s not correct… when we both know there is no way of knowing right from wrong… that’s my point. There is no right or wrong… just good creative ideas and that’s what I enjoy about the way they ended it by not explaining every little thing. I like to ponder it myself… how many times do I have to say that. You aren’t wrong… I’m not wrong… all ideas are reasonable, as long as you can back them up with sound reasoning of course.
I don’t by any means think that all my ideas are correct, just interesting and fun. You can be bitter about the show all you want, I’ll enjoy it as much as I’d like to. 
As for the Sawyer thing I was paraphrases dude… and I wasn’t saying that it was how the writers meant for it to work out, just that it is a very interesting little tid-bit that stands out when you re-watch it… OMG. Thought that him saying that was very interesting, that’s all. It’s an interesting idea of it being 2007 Sawyer straying from the pack when they were time traveling and having an encounter with kate from 2004… Not that it actually happened… just that it’s cool to think about.
Also…
I think it’s actually good storytelling when the writers are trickier about things. They do leave give us what we need many times to formulate what happened and yes they are purposely leaving that task up to us. Again, that’s part of the fun. There are many things that we can “with a small reasonable doubt” deem to be true with much of what we are given. You have to pay attention see what they are giving you for what it is. Like when I explained what “it worked” really meant when Juliet was dying. They didn’t explain that, but by breaking down the series of events to follow we were able to answer it.
“I believe and I stress “I”, that people move on when they chose to once they are awakened and when they’re ready.”
So… Why didn’t Sayid move on? He was waiting for Jack? Why didn’t Sun and Jin move on when logically (speaking as a father) I would want to wait for my child? Why did Juliette move on when Jack showed up instead of waiting for her sister? “They” (all except Jack) were waiting. For what or whom? Well it seemed like they were waiting for Jack.
So I ask again where is the logic for the ones above? You say people chose to move on… so they were all waiting for Jack? He was the most important thing in their lives? That is what they were waiting for?
This would be based on and about their Character. You know what this story is about. So what made them ALL wait for Jack and not other people that were important in their life?
“when we both know there is no way of knowing right from wrong… that’s my point.”
No that is my point. We have no way of knowing due to crappy (not yours theirs) story telling yet you are saying it is great story telling to leave it that way. To make the reader guess.
“just good creative ideas and that’s what I enjoy about the way they ended it by not explaining every little thing. I like to ponder it myself”
But if I come back with a “no” that couldn’t be and or present something contrary…. using logic what is wrong with that? Case in point the ash. It was made quite apparent with the acting, camera shot, and lines the ash circle was NOT broken. Yet to assume it was and have them (or you) fall back on it and say “well they didnt show the full circle…” is a cop out and bad story telling as they are back tracking trying to cover themselves.
“As for the Sawyer thing I was paraphrases dude… and I wasn’t saying that it was how the writers meant for it to work out, just that it is a very interesting little tid-bit that stands out when you re-watch it…”
dude thats not the way you wrote it…
… It was time traveling Sawyer that Kate jumped on… we just didn’t know it then. There is stuff like that all over the place.”
“I bet you don’t remember Kate jumping on Sawyer way back in season 1 and Sawyer says, “I wished for this three years ago”.
and
“And yes, Sawyer from 2007 was jumped by Kate 2004. Sawyer says, “I wished for this 3 years ago. And yeah, they did time travel back to that period a few times.”
So you are looking at something and without proper information seeing something that isnt there. That is what happens when you dont have the whole story. You assume something. Much like you are doing with everything else. Which is bad story telling. (again not you them).
See I am looking at this logically. I will say the knife again. If I assume something, like I assumed it had to be that one knife, and I can be proven incorrect I will say.. oops I made a mistake. So they either made it where it does not have to be the same knife… OR they made a set error. If I can go back and watch and find a spot where MiB or someone else says this knife is the only way… well then that is proof they made a set boo boo.
So when someone like you (or anyone else) has to base everything they are guessing/making up on loose strings left by the writers I consider it bad story telling. Especially when those loose strings have no logical tie back.
“Like when I explained what “it worked” really meant when Juliet was dying. They didn’t explain that, but by breaking down the series of events to follow we were able to answer it.”
(cant reply to that post for some reason…. )
Did you know Juliet also said “it worked” to her husband just before he was hit by a bus?
Maybe she was talking to her dead (former) husband in the afterlife becasue he couldn’t move on without her…. but then she waited for Jack…. So he had to wait… yet he wasnt in the Church…
Maybe she was so messed up by the explosion she was thinking/imagining it did work as she was in the Happy Place. (now all I can see is Juliet saying… THEY ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE!!!!)
Perhaps the writers just realised as they were coming to writing the final season that there was nothing that they could come up with that would explain everything whilst satisfying all fans desires and also doing the show justice.
Hence they went for the ending that they did.
Then again, maybe not.
I agree with you. I think the writers had no idea how to end it. I don’t think they expected the show to last as long as it did. They made things up to fill in space and so the ending. I don;t think I will ever invest the time in a shoe like this again. The ending ruined the whole series.
Saying they didn’t know how to end it goes against every single thing the creators have said in interviews for years. They knew how THEY wanted to end it. You may not have liked the ending, but how they ended it was how they wanted to end it. Was everything answered? No. But a lot of it was … I guess they answered what they wanted.
I have one piece of advice, though … do NOT go see Inception. Because that movie doesn’t answer every little detail, so I’m sure you’ll think Nolan just didn’t know how to end that, either.
Jim…
… you and I should hangout… lol. Nice post. My thoughts exactly. It seems that most that are unhappy about the show are those that can’t wrap their head around it. It sounds mean but really it’s not. Lost demanded strict attention and deep thinking. Some people seem upset that things weren’t laid out for them. That’s not what Lost was about. It was about generating exactly what we’re doing now… CREATIVE THOUGHT. Also, I haven’t found a question in Lost yet that I can’t formulate an answer for by paying attention to things that happened. Which is part of the fun of it for me. To all that are so upset and confused open your mind and think a little. Lost actually stayed true to itself by leaving things up to your imagination… they gave us all more than enough pieces to put the puzzle together without a picture of the box in front of us for reference.
Actually, in my experience, those who have been most upset about the way Lost concluded (myself included) are those who CAN and HAVE wrapped their head around the show. That’s the problem. You see, I’m not the least bit confused… just VERY UPSET. You probably would be too if your mind were truly open. Unless you’re one of those pretentious types who considers themself an intellectual. Because those types quite frequently just eat up the nonsense that the producers have spewed about how the show was just “all about the characters.” Right. Well what about the most important character of all? The Island? They didn’t wrap up its story very well at all. Many of those inconsistencies described above are the very details which bothered intelligent fans of the show. The fact is, a lot of more casual viewers were satisfied with The End because they weren’t invested enough to even recognize the vast sea of contradictions and plotholes that plagued the show from Season 4. When viwers realize that they could have written a more logical, cohesive, story than the creators of the show – that’s a problem. Lindelof and Cuse either dug themselves into a hole with the show, as many people have suggested, and simply aren’t willing to admit that they didn’t know what they were doing, or they had a different plan in mind to begin with (which is what I think happened) and would tweak that plan as the series went along every time fans began to solve the mystery of Lost and call it. But eventually the tweaking made everything a muddled mess and they abandoned whatever their original vision was to begin with, toward the end, and gave us what we have. If you carefully listen to their interviews and watch the show through the lens of creators who are trying to hard to do something original, and paying to much attention to what fans are saying, you will see that the latter situation described is what really happened. Either way, what we were ultimately given was an emotionally charged tear-fest with a few cut-and-paste answers, a formula made to jerk at the feelinsg of audiences and our connections with the characters, effectively distracting many viewers from the fact that only HALF of the equation was ever completed in the series finale.
Tim,
First of all, nice post… I enjoyed reading it and I respect your opinion. I actually find discomfort reading about all the devoted fans that are so upset with how Lost was wrapped up. It’s unfortunate that not everyone can be pleased and/or have enjoyed it as much as I did. But I do suppose it depends on how you watched the show, what you watched the show for, and what you were hoping to get out of it. You speak of watching the show through the lens of the creator, which is one way of doing it, though I like to watch through my own lens (much more fun btw). I two watched the podcasts and interviews but I never got wrapped up in the logical cohesiveness of the show because let’s not forget… Lost is a TV show, fiction, fantasy, sci-fi… not everything is going to be logical, it’s the nature of the product, it never has to be. It seems that many fans are more concerned with what was actually happening in real life behind the scenes while some of us chose to stay in TV land and enjoy the ride. It’s as if many fans are so interested in hounding the writers every move that they’d rather watch them write from over their shoulders than watch it unfold on their television. So it appears there are two types when you break it down, those of us that took what we were given and spent our time continuing the ride trying to make sense of things (also much more fun btw) and those of us that became bitter by not being spoon fed answers and then spent their time trying to figure out what went wrong behind the scenes. I actually don’t care what happened, whether things took skewed turns or whether they knew what they were doing all along… if you’re going to be literal and logical about Lost than you’d have to realize that this is how things are done in “real-life”. There are going to be changes and set backs, there are going to be plot holes and issues in a series and not everything can be answered while keeping a story flowing and “cohesive”. I’m willing to bet that many would be much more upset with the show had they made the end all about the answers and not about the characters. Have you ever sat back and thought about how many more questions would have been raised if they would have started getting into those questions, like those that inhabited the island before Jacob’s mother, ie. the ancient Egyptian civilization? The Island’s story is much to big for that. I’m content with the end because I see the entire series as just a chapter of the islands story. I see the island as a book which story begins countless ages ago, each chapter starts and ends with a new protector… and what we saw was Jacob’s chapter. AND YES… that’s just my view on it but it’s one that I’m happy with. I to agree that one of the biggest characters of all was the island, but I think they spent 6 season showing us all about it and explained every square foot of it as “logically” and “cohesively” as a fictional story (for christian shepards sake) can. I think we saw just as much about the islands “life” as we did Jack’s. We didn’t see Jack being born… but “logically” we know he was and by what we were given about the island we can put together that it’s story as well. For one, it’s incredibly old, for two, it was once inhabited by the ancient Egyptian (where many religions believe to be where life on earth first began), for three, … well I could go on and on for three… just as the writers could but the story of island is to large to tell and that sits fine with me. I’ve rewatched Lost front to back 3 times. It’s an amazing show and sure there were bumps… but that’s part of the nature of the show in my view. The reason many of us watched was because we were kept guessing, plotting, and DOING WHAT WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW… thinking creatively amongst each other. Simply for me everything was touched on that needed to be and I literally can’t find a hole that doesn’t have a “logical” and “cohesive” answer to it… even though many don’t need one in my view. Plus, logically… being bitter about something you had no control over is just a waste of energy… I suppose those that are upset are on these blogs because they are still searching for some resolve… answers that they will never get until they stop wanting the writes to sit them down in their home and explain every little thing to them. Make up your own vision! That’s one of the things that makes this show so great! My advice for those upset with Lost, stop watching fictional sci-fi television if you are interested in the logistics of things and start watching biographies and documentaries. No creative thinking is needed for those stories, just turn the right side of your brain off and and watch through the “lens of the creators”. When it comes down to it “Lost” is a TV show, a great one, that changed the way TV can be done. If you start to think past your television then really all it is is a story inside someone’s head with a typewriter… who wants to watch that, that sounds boring and frustrating… I’d be constantly saying, “no! don’t do that, do this” too. Control freaks. That’s who wants that, I read all about all the ways other fans would have ended it… then go write your own TV show and try to make it half as interesting as Lost was, I bet you can’t. Then we’ll see how much fun you have and how many times you have to maneuver around things. Simply put I could care less how many times they changed their tune. “Lost” simply wouldn’t be “Lost” if some things weren’t left for us to ponder on. For me EVERYTHING was answered through what we given. EVERYTHING. If you want me to hold your hand and rewatch the series I will.
It was so much fun the first 3 times I’d love to do it a 4th. Honestly I do respect your opinion and views on the show, I’m sad that many can’t get past what didn’t physically see happen. I for one am still having a blast even now that the show is over and done with… and that’s a gift “Lost” gave us. Some see it as a lump of coal in their stocking and some us think it’s the best christmas morning ever!
Also…
If you want to be upset at something… then it seems you should be upset at the podcasts… lol… not the show itself.
In my view, the show was all about mystery and surprising elememnts. In that regard the writers did their job and stayed true to what made the show so popular in the first place. They kept us guessing until the very end and are still keeping us guessing on some elments today. 
The writers 100% did completed their task in my view. They developed a storyline that would surprise us and keep us on our toes until the very end. Some see that as being “dupped” and some see it as being surprised. Like it or not that’s what we got. I’m just happy I liked it. I feel sorry for everyone else. 
It really must suck.
lol. Nice post but it sounds like something I’d say if i were trying to lie to myself so as not to feel like i’ve wasted over 350 hours watching a TV show that has wayyyyyyy too many flaws because the writers were too lazy to explain them (actually they were not too lazy to explain them, they were not able to) and my only option is to make myself believe that the creators of the show wanted me to do the thinking for them.
Travis…. im getting there…
Jim…. “do NOT go see Inception. Because that movie doesn’t answer every little detail, so I’m sure you’ll think Nolan just didn’t know how to end that, either.”
Is a load of poo. From what I understand of Inception it gives you enough to LOGICALLY formulate an ending based on the presented information/story. Also the handful of “questions” pale in comparison to LOST. Most (I could be incorrect) are questions that are either ors. It is one answer or another. Not its a question and if 17 diff people provide 127 different answers they would all fit.
There’s nothing to explain. They were dead the whole time. The entire show was just a last minute party thrown by a few neurons before brain death set in.
John… I really hope you’re joking. Your comment is barely worth a response… so I’ll leave it at that.
The ending made sense to me as I really got that it was a character-driven story from the outset and that that was the thing that mattered the most. When I think about the main characters (Jack, Locke, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Charlie, Claire etc), I always wondered if they would ever catch a break in their lives. I mean, they were all flawed and as Jacob said, he didn’t plucked them from a happy existence outside the island world. They all had personal issues to resolve and those stories needed to eventually have a happy ending. I would’ve liked a more info on the island’s history but in the end it was insignificant next to the core part of the story which was Jack and co’s stories. Very intelligent and highly creative storytelling on the writer’s part. They never spoonfed the audience and made a cliched show. They kept it original. Now that it’s over, it would’ve been stink if Jacob and MIB turned out to be Jacob and Esau from the Bible. That story’s been told before and the writer’s made it something different and that the island didn’t turn out to the Garden of Eden. But then it very well could’ve been I guess. We’ll never know unless Damon and Carlton reveal it in the S6 special features.
I agree.
I think that there was no ending that could have satisfied all loose ends in the time they had to wrap it all up, so they went back to the roots of the show: the characters. Yes, it was a bit disappointing on the “mystery” level, but I watched this show because I cared about the characters. And the end, well, let’s just say I’m glad I watched it alone, because my sobbing might have been a bit embarrassing in the presence of non-losties or even less ardent fans.
C’mon! you cared about the characters? I don’t think anyone cared about the characters The only reason i kept watching lost for so long was because I was hoping that in the next episode they’d explain the previous one and so on. I never thought that they would be in too deep so as not to be able to give a coherent explanation to all the mysteries.
I agree! I’m sure Lost can be seen without the flashback, forward and all, and still be confused like other people who watched the whole series. season 6 can be watched without the purgatory section! they struggle to kill false locke. they succeed and die while trying. no need for purgatory, it jaust confused people on the dead/not dead matter.
“I think that there was no ending that could have satisfied all loose ends in the time they had to wrap it all up”
So they made story lines and plot lines with no intention of ending them…..
The Island as stated was a BIG character to the story. How was it explained?
What happened to Claire when she got back? What happened to Kate? Sawyer? Sayid blew up saving a few murderers, thugs and a questionable Doctor and Airline pilot…. Thanks!
All that escaped on the plane after killing locke lived out their lives… what more is there to know… ??? We know where they end up… happy and together for eternity… if you ask me that’s the best ending possible. No questions of what happened to them are left. That’s the biggest question we all would have wanted answered had they not answered it… THINK ABOUT. If they’re all still on the island and or all die that would have sucked… we would have wanted to know what they did and other adventures they had… we’ll see in the extra 12 minutes what ben and hugo did as protectors… after that… it’s all summed up for me… some of you are sweating all the small stuff… when the small stuff really doesn’t effect the outcome IN ANY WAY. I loved it and enjoy coming up with my own theories and putting stuff together. If you pay attention all the pieces are there to make good solid answers yourself.
“if you ask me that’s the best ending possible. No questions of what happened to them are left. ”
The small stuff?
You mean like Aaron? A character that played a big part in season one and he wasn’t even born yet?
Like Claire?? Richard?
First you say its about the characters. Then you say all we care about is they lived out their lives when there is a possibility they couldn’t have…
So they were only a character when they were on the island and that is the only part of that character we cared about? See this is the issue. The characters are left dangling…
1. Kate – She has no man now (or did she hook up with Sawyer?). She has no child now. She is alone. Still with the haunting memory of the murders and crimes she committed. Not to mention surviving 2 airplane crashes.
2. Sawyer – does he go with Kate? Does he create a family with the mother of his daughter? Since he has no KNOWN skills what is he to do? Wait now that he was SUPPOSEDLY dead (you know there was no way ANYONE survived besides the Oceanic Six..) there may be a chance others did? What cha been doing James? Look pretty good for a guy living on an island for 3 years…
3. Claire… on the Island as long as James and yet looks like (and still acts like) a wild child. How did you live so long? How come you and James didnt find each other yet are on the same plane to return?
4. Richard…. WOW… yeah well how old are you? If Dharma is still around they want a piece of that. If not well im sure Homeland security wants to know where you have been for the last… well hell who knows how long. What you want to go to an office to aquire some ID? No why dont you call someone to bring that stuff.
5. Miles …. How did you get on the Island? We show no record of you flying out anywhere… Widmores ship? Well where is he and the rest of the crew??
6. Frank… You were able to pilot the planme in that condition yet you don’t remember the path or bearing you took to get where you are? you dont remember anything about where the island may be?
Yeah see these are the characters I want to see… Yet we are to believe they flew into Miami, got off the plane and lived life to the fullest.
Desmond was poofed by the almighty Hugo!!! So now Hugo can teleport people as one of his powers…. No let me guess there is some more hidden transportation off the island that only Ben knows about.. to be used in an emergency… How convenient.
One stupid question. When exactly did Claire, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley die???
Because Hurley stayed on the island as a protector, while Claire, Kate and Sawyer flew away on a bloody plane… I think I’ve LOST the thread somewhere…
But the purgatory was not necessary for them to get over their issues, it should be: Jack dies and meets his father, he forgives jack for accusing him to the hospital board.
-Sawyer dies and meets his parents, who have forgived each other.
-Kate dies and meets his friend, the one of the toy plane.
and so on.
and all the others characters got over their issues on the island, charlie was not a junkie, sun and jinn, etc. but in the purgatory world they are back to as they were before the island, WHY? the producers made that just in order to fool us
What break in Sayids life did he catch? He blew up. Jacob had a hand in his wife being killed. He had something dark and sinister growing in him.
What break did Claire get? She got off the Island…. if they gave her back her baby (she would get some type of eval for gone missing for so long) they need their heads examined.
What break did Kate get? No Jack, No Claire baby, No Sawyer…. Oh thats right she got the break of getting off the hook for a few murders and a bank robbery, not to mention the fugitive part.
Sun and Jin… Jin never got to see his daughter in real life. While they died together they never got the break (in life) to be together and raise a family.
Charlies break was….. uh.. he died by drowning. Claire never got on the helicopter that he was lied to about. I would be a pretty pissed off Ghost if I was Charlie.
Hurley… What break did he need? He had money and a reunited family. there was no “curse”. So Hurley was fine.
Sawyer.. Did he go with Kate? See his daughter and hook up with her mother? Get a job as a… uh.. what skills did he have?
Hopefully Andrew you can explain to me how these main characters all ended up? We dont know. We dont know when they died, how they died, if they were happy when they died…. In short the character driven story drove the characters to a certain area dropped them off and left them there.
Aknot…
… the point is, is that they end up happy. WHO GIVES A CRAP what happened in their earth life as long as their happy in eternity… Which would you rather have????? You seem to be hung up on things that can be answered by simply using your imagination.
The break for Sayid was redemption dude… his issues were that he was a torturer and a killer. He sacrificed himself for the greater good by taking the bomb. In the end… he was happy with Shannon in eternity.
Claire and Kate raised Aaron together… Kate spent the rest of her life missing Jack… and yes it’s heartbreaking… but that’s life dude… life isn’t always happy my friend… A BIG PART OF LOST by the way. What’s important is that in the end they are happy and together. Kate ultimately ends up with Jack for eternity and I bet if you asked her she’s pretty cool with that. The time spent on earth is a blink of an eye in comparison to what is to come for them.
Charlie ends up spending eternity with Claire… Um break? … Um yeah that’s a pretty good break dude.
Hugo ends up with Abby… or whatever her name was. SHE’S hot… Sawyer end up with Juliet who he loved dearly showing it as she died. They all end up happy man and that’s the freaking point.
LIFE is the crap they had to go through to get to that point… dude accept that or stay miserable with the time you think you lost watching the show. It was an amazing piece of television history, innovative, mysterious and different from everything else, and I for one am grateful for it.
“… the point is, is that they end up happy. WHO GIVES A CRAP what happened in their earth life as long as their happy in eternity…”
Why is Kate allowed to do what she did and be HAPPY in ALL ETERNITY?? what did she do to redeem herself?
Sayid doing ALL the things he did why should he be happy in eternity?
For one good deed? Oh please.
So life is crap and we should all just die to get it over with? That way we can spend eternity “happy” regardless what we did in life? Yeah thats a cool way to go..
Yet if im not ready I can hold others back…. but they still get to be running around in purgatory living that “almost” perfect life… Or was that version of purgatory just Jacks?
No here is what really happened..
Claire got put in a mental ward.
Kate wanting Aaron back kidnapped him as she had no other legal way to do it. That didnt last long as she was finally caught. However tough Kate not leaving without a fight was caught in a shoot out and got shot by whats her faces mother.
Sawyer came home to his mothers daughter but found out he was nothing. He had nothing outside the Island. He ended up being homeless and dying alone in an alley somewhere.
However the path they trod to get there the Religous symbols on the window would have stopped them from having a “happy eternity” for what most of them did.
80% of them if not more would have been in what most of us view as Hell.
Postmodernism:
Uncertainty
Lack of Absolutes
Progress is unlikely
LOST:
A pile of elephant crap
You CANNOT give birth if you are DEAD.
Actually “dude” … Obviously you can… Claire had hers in the flash sideways/afterlife… and more obviously… they weren’t dead. I’m so surprised there are people out there that actually still think they were dead the whole time? It’s like they didn’t watch the show and/or pay attention to anything.
The “BABY MAMA DRAMA” was because of the hydrogen bomb that was buried in the island, with instructions from Faraday. i dont know the episode number or even season, but i know this is true =]
I think the reason women were dying when pregnant was explained by Juliet (not sure what episode). Because the island had a “healing” ability the fetus would be considered foreign and therefore abort itself and killing the mother in the process.
Pretty sure that’s what she said.
Lisa is more than likely on par with her theory. This makes sense when you think about it. Especially when you wonder, then why didn’t Rousseau or Claire die… or any of the other ones that didn’t die and had their babies? … Well, this is because a “candidate” can’t kill themselves. The body attacking itself can’t happen if you’re a candidate. Therefore a pregnant candidate will have her baby. Regular pregnant people on the island would die.
Babie are born but not after the bomb… Ethasn was born before the bomb
They do have children on the island..Ethan concieved on the island to horace and his wife. The change happend after the incident..
Rousseau and Claire both had their baby’s after the bomb… but this is because they were candidates… candidates can’t kill themselves… that goes for their own bodies killing themselves as well.
If their own bodies can’t attack themselves than that would make sense why they didn’t die when pregnant.
This could also be because they weren’t subjected to the radiation from the bomb as long as the women living on the island were. That’s probably the simplest answer. If the entire pregnancy happens on the island you’re screwed… as Juliet said to Sun when she got pregnant… “you’re probably okay if you got preggers off the island”.
lost is just fantastic but it still have a lot of contradictions
personally i did not understand one act it’s when “Ben” saw the picture of black smoke as a god and Island natives were Around him .if the island was empty when jacob’s boat arrived how the island natives with their traditional clothes arrived after?
Hicham,
The island wasn’t empty. Mother made them assume it was vacant. There had been civilizations on the island for centuries and then some. All the statues and structures are there to show us that the islands been around and inhabited for thousands of years… we’re shown this to know the story of the island is much larger than what we’ve seen… we’re just seeing Jacob’s chapter as the protector… there is much more untold history… just as there is untold future stories… ie. Hugo’s chapter as protector.
Thanks for the great explanations! It helped me a lot. One, lingering, overall unanswered question – A lot of things happened on the side just so that the lost survivors could get from point A – B – C…
Why was Penny Widmore at the church with Des. at the end? Penny wasn’t on the plane and never had an on-scene brush with death that I recall.
snow is right. That is probably a mistake by the writers. Or maybe Ben Linus did kill her on her boat and she was dead as well.
Snow… Elad…. and others…
You are all still getting it wrong and I honestly can’t see why the people can’t see past the things they didn’t actually physically see on the show. Penny was in the church because she did eventually die… later on in life. As did Hugo, Ben, Kate, Sawyer, Claire, and Desmond. Everyone that had made it off the island the plane went on to live their lives until they eventually died and eventually everyone met in after life in what we saw in the flash sideways. The writers left the rest of their lives to the imagination… ie. Hugo and Ben’s time on the island as protectors. Which we will see in the 12 minutes of extra footage on the DVD. As I’ve stated before on this very thread, for example, Kate tells Jack how much she missed him when she sees him in the sideways, she’s speaking of how much she missed him for the rest of her life that she lived after she escaped the island on the plane. Everyone needs to broaden their thinking. Hugo and Ben went on to protect the island (for god knows how long), Desmond made it back to penny and lived out his life with her, Sawyer, Claire, Kate, Miles, Richard, and Liptus lived out their lives off the island as well. Jack’s actual life ended when he died from the knife wound in the bamboo forest… after this (on the actual show time) is when we as viewers see the flash sideways world as purgatory, though all you need to realize is that in “real time” the purgatory world (the flash sideways) wasn’t happening during season 6… it was happening much later in terms of real time if you have to think of it that way. Once everyone died they eventually met and eventually remembered eachother in the afterlife. We didn’t see Penny, Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Lipitus, Richard, Claire, Hugo, Ben, or Desmond die on the show BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T DEAD YET!!!!!!! We never see their deaths, they are left to the interpretation of the inevitability of death.
Thanks a lot for the explanation dude – i think i get it now. Kinda sad that it ended, but I guess I gotta move on to another TV show now.
It didnt matter they spent time with her and she was part of their lifes hence in the church and like jacks dad said they all died eventually just at different times there is no now in heaven
Bravo to leaving something to the imagination. That is why the book is usually better. The movie version of the hunt for red october stayed true to the book as a result it was pointless. Thanks for the answers. I’m glad they are adding stuff. Will there be a spinoff? How about the Jolene Blalock clips?
They still never really state why the “island had to be protected.” Sure protected from the black smoke through jacobs reign but what about before or after. How or why would a regular human want to destroy the light. Everything else they wrapt up really good. I especially like how they show the characters together moving on.
Remember they said the island was cork that held the evil of the black smoke from getting out so what was it before the smoke or after, doesnt make to much sense.
Yeah the island is what separates the world from heaven and hell I think. If it is destroyed then the world will cease to exist, and everyone will die. That is why it has to be protected.
how did you come up with that theory.
Yes, the island is both figuratively and *literally* a cork. Taking the cork out of the stopper somehow is what robbed bad-locke of his power. Putting the cork back in the stopper then turns the island back “on”.
As to why the island had to be protected – there could always be another Dharma initiative… you know, people coming to the island to try to exploit its power, and, in the process, end up turning it off, or unleashing it all at once, or whatever.
One comment about the numbers: I belive the numbers were the same as the flight chairs as some of the “losties” sat in during the flight.
JJ Abrams brought great cinematography to a new medium HDTV in a great location. The show got interesting when he left and Lindelhoff and Cuse brought real storytelling and directing vision to Lost. I watched the Star Trek extras JJ story to understand why he screwed up that storyline and blew up Vulcan. The only thing it shows is an angry man flashing bright lights, shaking cameras, speeding up the action ,and going back to anamorphic. Frank Capra he is not. Thank you very much Lindelhoff and Cuse
I enjoyed lost, it was certainly one of my favorite shows, that being said I was a little disappointed that they didn’t wrap up a few more of the ongoing mysteries. I actually enjoyed the ending; I just wish we could have had a few more explanation episodes prior to it, at least a Beyond the Sea Pt 2 (Pre-Jacob/MIB.) For example, I would have liked to see who built the statue, after thinking about it, researching it, discussing it for years, it was left hanging, I mean, it could have been a giant statue of Mickey Mouse and it would not have affected the story at all. Maybe I should not have convinced myself that in one episode we would see a recreated ancient Egypt with the disciples of Tawaret narrowly escaping by boat only to wash up on our island (admit it, that would have been really cool), maybe I came to expect too much, maybe I just wanted more LOST, whatever the reason, the loose ends took away a bit of the excellence that was LOST IMO.
I do have one question. Why did Eloise Hawking tell Desmond Hume in the flash sideways (purgatory universe) that he should not continue to investigate why ‘Penny’ sounded familiar to him, isn’t the purgatory supposed to encourage him to find that stuff out, reunite with her and then move on?
Eloise wasn’t ready to move on… just as Ben became aware but chose to stay to eventually move on after helping to “wake up” Alex and Rousseau… Eloise had unresolved issues with Daniel. She was afraid that if Desmond started to “wake people up” that he may take Daniel with him. She says this in season 6. She asks Desmond if he’s going to be taking Daniel. Eloise hasn’t yet come to terms with killing her own son and having to send him to his death knowing it would happen. She’s still working on it in purgatory I believe. Interesting tid bit many never caught during the show… Eloise comes out of the kitchen crying as she approaches Daniel playing the piano as a young child. She’s crying because this is when all the memories and knowledge (created by the time traveling) of what she did and what she now has to do comes to her. It was like new memories were just downloaded into her head. This when she gains all the knowledge that she has about Oceanic flight 815. Just as Desmond wakes up on the boat next to Penny with new memories when Daniel changed the past while they were time traveling. Thought this was cool realizing it when re-watching it.
@ Travis,
as you seem to know it all. when did Jack repair Lockes back? Could not have been before the crash. As Lock stayed on the island couln t have been during their 3 years back. Finally when Jack came back to the island to fix it, he never returned home as he dies on the island while some of the losties fly back. So when did this surgery take place? How did desmond make it back. Hurley made it happen? And why in Gods name has Kate not got her dress on in the church whereas she had it on in the car infront of the church in the final?
Thanks man!
Hey littlegex,
Your initial question is worded rather confusingly. Jack repairs Lockes back during the flash sideways (purgatory) this has nothing to do with the island and is not time sensitive correlating with any other event. It’s just something that happens in the world that the losties made themselves to find one another, remember, and move on after EVERYONE eventually dies. The Purgatory isn’t happening along side the final season. This is what confuses many viewers because they think the sideways is happening when we’re seeing the happenings on the Island during season six. The writers tricked us using the bomb at the end of season five into thinking that this was an alternate universe happening along side in real time. When in actuality the flash sideways (if were speaking in real time for clarifications sake) doesn’t happen until after everyone that meets in the church eventually dies. There is much more to the story that happens after Jack dies which is hard for people to understand. After Jack dies, his purgatory life begins within his consciousness. I’m guessing it begins when Rose let’s him know he can “let go” on the plane in the first episode of season 6. Though as far as we know the purgatory could have started at birth for him and went on from there. It’s hard to understand since as Christian said, “there is no when here”. It helps to try and understand that the meeting of everyone doesn’t take place until all of them eventually die in real life ei. Kate, Sawyer, Desmond, Penny, and Claire… As far as Desmond making it back, we must presume that Hugo and Ben help off… remember that “that’s the way Jacob ran things” … Ben says there can be a different way, a better way. So it would seem Hugo let’s him go. We may see this during the 12 extra minutes of footage when the DVD is released. Hahaha… the Kate thing is funny. She should of had the dress on… as much as she annoyed me at times, it was hot. She wore the dress for the concert… as we know she’s not really a dress kind of girl and it was probably more fitting for her to move on out of it. I’d want to go comfortable to. Plus I’d want Jack… after not seeing me for so long to see me the way he remembered me.
Thanks for the explanations Travis but I do have one concern. Do you remember in the last 2 episodes of Season 6 when Jack woke up to find himself bleeding from the neck in the purgatory universe. Later in the episode UnLocke sticks a knife to his throat in the same place he was bleeding. If the 2 worlds were not happening “correspondingly” then how come Jack started bleeding at that time and also in the hospital later.
Thanks for the question Elad…
Funny that you just sort of answered yourself in a way unknowingly.
Think about what you just said… Jack starts bleeding when he woke up that day (not when he actually gets cut)… which means he didn’t start bleeding exactly when he was cut. 
It’s foreshadowing. Simply put it was another story telling device to keep the viewers in the illusion of thinking that it was happening along side the other. The writers wanted us to think that the flash sideways was happening at the same time and was an alternate universe caused by the bomb, in order to trick and surprise us at the end. The bomb was a brilliant scam and use of misdirection. This little plot device was so well executed by the writers that it’s still confusing and fooling people now. Jack was actually bleeding because he was getting closer to remembering and “story wise” it was time for us to see it to continue the illusion building up to the big reveal that the flash sides ways wasn’t a flash sideways at all… but purgatory. Genius move by the writers. They had us … and it appears they still have some of us thinking that it was in fact an alternate universe. We know now that it wasn’t so none of that could have been happening at the same time. It was simply the best way to tell the story and keep us believing. Hell, the entire story of the Island for the Losties was a span of a few years… the flash sideways happened over a few days. Anyways, I’ve got more to elaborate on this but I have to take an important phone call… It’s even better understood through the absolutely magnificent way they handled Juliets death. … More to come. 
Thanks Travis, I guess that makes sense.
Just one last concern. During the finale credits they show Oceanic 815 the day it crashed as if there were no survivors. Why would they do this, since we know that the Losties did infact live on the island and in the real world (Oceanic Six). Were they just trying to fool everyone again.
Elad,
That question is actually addressed in the blog this comment thread is for.
The images seen after the credits were shots placed there by the network and had nothing to do with the writers or story in any way. Also if you look closely you’ll apparently see memorabilia from their time there. Once Jack’s eye closed and LOST appeared that was it. The writers were done.
So, awesome writing device to better understand the time aspect, or lack there of when in concerns the flash sideways purgatory. Also it was another great misdirection by the writers… making us think that the flash sideways was an alternate universe caused by the bomb. When Juliet dies in the start of season 6 she says to Sawyer that “it worked”. We are led to believe at this point that she’s speaking of the bomb, but what she’s really talking about is the vending machine after Sawyer unplugs it in the flash sideways in order to retrieve his stuck candy bar. While Juliet is dying we unknowingly see her experiencing her purgatory encounter with James. It’s an example of how time isn’t relevant in the flash sideways, anything can happen at anytime. Time literally means nothing and has no baring on when things happen. That’s why Christian says “there’s no when here”. Juliet is sort of having “an out of body experience”. She’s half dead sort of half in and half out. It was just a great piece of writing not realized until her and Sawyers purgatory moment. Just awesome.
I posted below asking what “it worked” actually meant… then I read your post. Wow. Pretty sneaky.
… also read again in the blog on the paragraph just above Desmonds picture… it’s a great little tid bit… and an awesome statement about how people are upset about some answers and such in the form of a question on the “mysterious hugo”.
Thinking about the end where they show the plane 815 . What happened to it? It was in the first few scenes then gone for 5 seasons. Did they bury it or what?
Hey Ken,
It’s suggested they used the plane for shelter. Broke it down over time.
Thanks for the Juliet “it worked” ,the plane mystery and the positive help. What is it now 23 days till the release? They should give you coupons.
Travis, some very interesting stuff here, thanks. I was wondering if you could clear up your view on one question I have? You have made some references concerning time in relation to the purgatory world and I would like to know how you view it. Surely there is a temporal progression within this purgatory, otherwise wouldn’t ideas like becoming, e.g. “waking up”, “going to the church”, “becoming aware” … have no meaning? More importantly how does “purgatory time” relate to “reality time”? I know what Christian said, but if there is no when, how can the events in the church occur “after” everyone is dead? It seems if there truly is no “when” in purgatory, to say they are entering the church before the events on the island, at the same time as the events on the island, or after the events on the island all have the same meaning? Also, doesn’t Kate say something like “it’s been a long time” to Jack, if the two timelines are unrelated, how would she know this? It seems to me the simplest answer is that the events in purgatory are happening after the events on the island, but that seems to contradict what Christian said as well as other things like Juliet’s flash sideways and back saying “It worked” (nice pick-up BTW, I like your explanation of this, as it had not occurred to me earlier.) Anyway, I’d like to hear your take on these issues, Thanks.
Hey CW,
I’d like to begin addressing your questions with Kate since what she says to Jack is absolutely pivotal in explaining many things. Kate tells Jack how much she “missed” him. She says this to him after she’s been awoken in the flash sideways. When Kate awakes she remembers not just the time of her life she spent on the island, but the rest of her life up until she eventually dies as well. Kate is telling Jack how much she missed him for the rest of her actual life after she escaped the island on the plane with Sawyer, Miles, Richard, Lipitus, and Claire. When Kate “wakes up” and remembers, she’s aware that the last time she saw Jack was when they said goodbye on the island after killing Locke. She’s remembering how difficult it was to live without him and how much she missed him for the rest of her life after she left the island. Evangeline did a fantastic job acting out this part as well… you can really see it in her movements, eyes, and words that it’s been so long and she’s remembering how hard it was to leave him there on the island knowing she’d never see him again. Now that being said, the best way to understand the flash sideways in terms of when it happened would be to understand Claire, Desmond, Sawyer, Hugo, and Ben didn’t die till much later after the events on the island in series finale. They all had to be dead to move on together, however, there is no set time for them to move on (since time doesn’t exist) just set parameters that they’re going to do it together once they all remember. So it’s best to understand it by not “when” it happened since there is no “when”, but that they couldn’t move on until everyone had died in real life. It’s hard to wrap your head around possibilities when the possibilities aren’t constricted by how we conceive time. Throwing out time makes things difficult sense wise…. damn, I have to go back to work… I’ll continue this later.
think about Purgatory as a holding cell where ‘our’ time has no meaning. Say Jack dies in 2010. Kate may have died in 2040. Hugo and Ben could have lived hundreds of years, if you go by Jacob and MIB’s life span. They all ‘arrive’ in Purgatory at the time of there deaths.
Actually different people has different understanding about all these questions. However the most important is that this show had attracted you, had accompanied you, had made you start thingking about what life is and what it is for（at least the scene that Sun and Jin dying together in the submarine made me realize that how much I love my BF）. That really matters. And from this respect, I think Lost had did something both for us and for itself. Isn’t it?
I know most of us agree that the flash sideways/purgatory (call it whatever you like) was an afterlife which is not bound by time or space, where our losties meet up after death. What if I said, the flash sideways is: “what could of happened if the oceanic 815 plane didnt crash”. Can someone explain that I am wrong please. first of all, how can christian sheperd be alive in this so called WHAT COULD OF HAPPENED scenario of mine. Perhaps jacks father did not drink himself to death. however that would’nt explain the need for the coffin. Help!
In this alternate reality, Jack’s ex-wife is Juliet, not his other ex-wife, and Jack has a son. There’s no way that preventing the crash of 815 could have changed those things. Likewise, in this alternate reality, Hugo is an optimist, whereas in the “real” reality he was obsessed with curses. Desmond is a big success who never knew Penny, whereas in “real” reality he was a loser with a long history with Penny. Ben Linus was never on the island. And so on. There are tons of things in this alternate reality that contradict the theory that the alternate reality is just what would have happened if 815 didn’t crash.
Travis, thanks for clearing up what Kate did indeed say, however I’m not sure it really addresses the question I have. You write “Throwing out time makes things difficult sense wise” but I am saying that you can’t just “throw out time” (at least you can’t do it and have a world resembling the one we saw in the flash sideways). You say “time does not exist” in the purgatory world yet then go on to use a concept like remember which seems to have an assumption of time built into the very word. (Is it possible to remember something that has not happened yet?) A good way to illustrate what I am saying is with the questions: Are the events we see in the church at the end happening after the events on the island and are the events in the church happening after they entered the church? If the answers are yes then I would argue that time does exist in purgatory, it is relatable to real world (island) time, and while the question of “when are the events in the church happening” may not be answerable by something like A.D. 2022 at 10:55 PM it can be answered with “after the events on the island.” If the answer is: no, since time has no bearing in the purgatory world, then words like before, after, until… have no meaning and then that opens up many more questions and seeming contradictions. It seems that in a world existing outside the dimension of time the statements: “Ben entered the church,” “Ben is entering the church,” and “Ben will enter the church” all have precisely the same meaning, there seems to no longer be any way to differentiate between the instant that Locke entered the church and the instant Ben entered the church. Also, it seems, a sans time world would consists of pure “being” and the idea of “becoming” would no longer be possible, everything in it would be eternal and unchanging (reminds me of the Judeo-Christian view of God or maybe Plato’s realm of the forms). Maybe this is the world they are moving on to (although, I would argue that if there truly were no time in this new world, then they are already there and indeed have always been there so the idea of moving on to it is not really accurate.) LOST was a great show and as someone pointed out before, these lingering questions and contradictions (if it is fair to call them that, maybe “apparent contradictions” would be better) tend to add to, instead of detract from, that greatness.
CWbs…
I think your reaching a little to far into it. When it comes right down to it we have to remember that we are watching this in an actual reality (as we know it) where time does exist. Linear time that is. So naturally in order to tell the story of Lost there has to be an element of time. If there wasn’t we wouldn’t know how to make sense of what we were seeing. The flash sideways was a world built within the minds of the losties… in their perception time runs normally, so we see it operating as so. They don’t know any other way to exist so of course their made up world is going operate with in the constraints of time as they knew it when they were alive. It’s a world they each made… so it’s safe to say that each has their own and when everyone eventually died (long after the island) they converged and moved on.
The purgatory world upsets me, I dont know why; its probably becuase they are all dead in the purgatory world!I just like to think of it as a great finale. Sun and Jin reunited and die together. Jack kills the monster, fufills his socalled purpose and dies on the island. Desmond, Hugo, Ben and a few unknown people remain on the island (these few unknown people are those who fled into the jungle after John Locke Monster, Sahid, Jack and the followers of John Locke Monster were bombed by Widmore). Sawyer, Kate, Miles, Claire, Richard and the pilot escape the island. Such a deep thing to take all this in. They went through all that pain, anguish,trust, friendship, love, romance, confusion, frustration with the death of many people and this is how it ends. The island is at peace, we can assume, till somebody else turns up accidently.What of the island itself, noone really knew much about it. A mystery. A sad ending truly, perhaps, the purgatory world is not so bad at all. You know who I blame the course of these events on, that crazy women who raised jacob and his brother. Why did she have to kill jacobs mother. What was the point of that. O, I believe she wanted to pass on the role as protector to some else. One of the kids and preferably MIB. Question: was MIB and jacob related to those people MIB was living with after he left jacob and crazy mother? or I could ask the question: did jacobs mother crash onto the island qith those people MIB was living with after he left crazy women and jacob, this would mean that jacob and MIB are related to those people.
Jacob and MIB are “related” but not by blood or anything. Their mother probably washed up on shore when these people’s boat crashed and she was on the boat.
I thought Jacob and MIB were twins.
Sorry that was bad wording on my part, I meant “related” to the other people on the island, since their mother came to the island with them.
Thanks god Elad… I just stopped was I was doing, took out my computer, and was about to ask you what the hell you were talking about.
…
Hi Travis,
Nice to find a theory on the “it worked” quote from juliet, because this is something that threw me a bit.
Building on this, would you argue that the bomb actually did go off, or was the white light that appeared just another time shift… or was it both?
It seems odd that a nuke would explode and they would find themselves shifted back into present day from the 70s, with evidence that the Hatch has still been built.
Hmmm.
To me, best finale since Six Feet Under. Ooh and Scrubs.
Hey Jeremiah,
Ditto on the Six Feet Under Finale…
… and as for the bomb, it’s a great question and it’s one of the questions I ponder often. Did it go off or didn’t it? It makes it easier knowing that in the end it really doesn’t matter if it did or it didn’t – either way they got to where they were going.
Here’s how I break it down – both ways have very compelling arguments when all things are considered, each with story elements that back up the ideas. Both have really good points. I’d say the second (the did go off theory) is slightly more compelling. Give them read and let me know what you think.
Seeing that the bomb was a writing element of misdirection often used in Lost… they show us one thing when really they mean another. The bomb was no doubt meant to hide the flash sideways for what it really was in season 6 and make us believe that the bomb caused an alternate universe where the plane never crashes. All of it was meant to insure watchers were surprised in the end. So not that it really matters, it would be safe to say that it didn’t explode. In this theory the energy on its own caused the time travel. Since we’re led to believe that “it worked” was the bomb when it really wasn’t, it could mean “it didn’t work” cause it didn’t go off. If this is true, bomb had no meaning and never did, other than to trick us… well done to by the way. The Losties were meant to get to the island, the hatch was meant to be built, Desmond was meant to press the button, all things considered the bomb would have changed all that (maybe, wait until you read the other side of this equation below)… Also, consider this… if that bomb goes off when dropped that means Jack kills himself… that’s something we now know Jack can’t do… or any of the candidates for that matter. Jack couldn’t blow up the dynamite so it makes sense that the bomb didn’t go off when he dropped it. Now if Juliet was or wasn’t a candidate is up for speculation. Still though… the dropping thing really only applies to Jack. I thought it was an interesting explanation to why the bomb didn’t explode when he dropped it. Okay, sorry I strayed a bit there. Now back to the point. Since the bomb was meant to be a misdirection tool it could mean it never went off and had no bearing on the events that happened. It was all a ploy to divert our attention. Also, a great piece of writing involving the bomb as a diversion, was the island being under water in the opening of season 6. What we’re led to believe (again) is this was caused by the bomb… when really it’s a metaphor for the losties being blind to that part of their life in the flash sideways. The island memories are suppressed in their minds – metaphorically the island is out of sight, out of mind, burried deep within…. or, underneath the sea.
So, since the bomb obviously didn’t cause that to happen or the alternate universe… no it’s very possible it didn’t go off.
Now… the other interesting factors to consider… (much more fun) and I’ve built the theory from previous Lost events. Desmond, in this instance, is literally “the key”.
The fail safe key, as he always was meant to be. When Locke destroys the computers in the Swan Desmond is forceed to turn the fail safe key to destroy the energy. That being said… when he turned that key it’s very possible that he detonated a bomb, much like the one Juliet detonated with the rock. This is the interesting part since both energy build ups are the exact same and if the bomb worked in the 70′s, then it would make sense that they built the bomb in as the fail safe because it already worked as a last resort once… so they built it in as a last resort again. So, whether it went off or not, either way that didn’t stop the Swan from being built cause as we all know the plane has to crash.
Well… Those are my two thoughts on the subject. I’m still pondering each.
Let me know what you think.
Ha wow, nice one! I think the second desmond solution was a bit over my head and I’ve watched the series as it came out so some of those events are years old in my head.
Seems like it’s more likely that the bomb didn’t go off and it was a time flash, or at least that’s an explanation I can wrap my head around anyway.
I think ending it with them all dead was quite a moving and very conclusive way to do it, but the emotional side of me wishes that the bomb HAD set in train an alternate reality, and that they all met up and continued their lives together in that reality whilst still remembering the events on the island and that part of their history together (even though it happened in an alternate plane of time etc).
That Desmond theory brings to mind my curiosity as to what Widmore intended to use him for and why he called him the fail safe? Was Widmore hoping to harness the energy of the island somehow, but if it went wrong he was going to use Desmond to take the cork out and put the light out? Hmmm…
Widmore was visited by Jacob, Jacob told him to bring Desmond as well as how to get back to the island. Widmore says this himself. He was only doing what Jacob asked of him.
As for watching Lost as it’s aired over the span of 5 years, I think that might be why so many are so upset with things… I got my girlfriend into it and thus rewatched seasons 1 through 5 with her, then after season 6 ended we watched it again. I really benefited from it. It made so much so much more clear. I bet you don’t remember Kate jumping on Sawyer way back in season 1 and Sawyer says, “I wished for this three years ago”.
… It was time traveling Sawyer that Kate jumped on… we just didn’t know it then. There is stuff like that all over the place.
Anyways, while I was watching the end of season 6, I to was hoping that Desmond was going to bring them all together in that universe and they’d remember all that happened on the island, but live on in that universe together… though all being done and done I’m extremely happy with the end. Knowing that they’ll all end up together for eternity is beautiful. Knowing that all they went through they can now look back on knowing it’s importance but also knowing that life is not an island and there are bigger things to come.
“I bet you don’t remember Kate jumping on Sawyer way back in season 1 and Sawyer says, “I wished for this three years ago”.
… It was time traveling Sawyer that Kate jumped on…”
WHAT THE?! Man i think I do need to watch it again, I don’t even remember time travelling Sawyer existing. So was it Sawyer from 2007 being jumped on by Kate in 2004? I don’t remember during the time flashes them going back to 2004, or maybe I do.
Bah this show has messed with my head too much. The only cure must be to watch it again
My sediments EXACTLY!!! For all those confused/stumped/angry about the show, I recommend re-watching… cause rewatching with knowing what happens really helps put it all together. Little things that you’d never notice get noticed. Watch an episode every night before bed or something… that’s how I did it. It made Lost so much better… kept everything fresh in my head during season 6.
And yes, Sawyer from 2007 was jumped by Kate 2004. Sawyer says, “I wished for this 3 years ago. And yeah, they did time travel back to that period a few times. Remember… Sawyer saw Kate help Claire give birth…. remember… then he tells Juliet about it, saying he could reached out and touched her. .. Anyways, that’s not important. I do recommend ALL fans rewatch it. I guarantee it will change alot of minds.
BEAUTY!
I do remember that, and I love it.
What a clever show it is…
“And yes, Sawyer from 2007 was jumped by Kate 2004. Sawyer says, “I wished for this 3 years ago.”
hmm you may want to go back and re-watch that…
SAWYER: I made this birthday wish four years ago.
As he was going to his stash after speaking with Shannon picking up a pack of cigs.
Something tells me time traveling Sawyer would not be looking for a pack of cigs.
[Shot of Sawyer walking to his 'hole' and grabbing a pack of cigarettes. Kate tackles him.]
SAWYER: Well, it’s about time.
KATE: For what?
SAWYER: I made this birthday wish four years ago.
KATE: Where’s the water?
[Sawyer flips her over so he's on top.]
SAWYER: That’s better.
KATE: Get off of me.
[Sayid enters and drags Sawyer off of Kate.]
SAYID: Give us the water now.
SAWYER: [shoving Sayid] Touch me again, huh.
[Kate looks through Sawyer's stuff.]
SAWYER: You really think I stole your damn water?
SAYID: We know you gave two bottles to the Koreans.
SAWYER: I don’t give nothing to nobody.
KATE: It’s not here.
SAWYER: I traded Mr. Miyagi the last of my water for a fish he caught. We worked it out caveman style.
KATE: You gave him your last two bottles?
SAWYER: Water has no value, Freckles. It’s gonna rain sooner or later. And hell, I’m an optimist.
[Sawyer gets something out of his suitcase.]
SAWYER: [to Kate] Hey, you forgot something. [Throws her a badge]. Seeing as you’re the new sheriff in town. Might as well make it official.