Who knew that in the end, Lost is ultimately a story about redemption, love and the deep bond that results from the experiences we share as human beings. Set in a beautiful island back drop, the tragic experiences of our characters is the perfect metaphor for our tendancy to take beauty for granted and our ability to profoundly hurt and destroy each other. The paradisal setting serves as a nice contrast to the violence and anxiety experienced by our favorite Losties. For most of the series, you can't help but wonder if these lost souls will ever find happiness, love or redemption in their hearts and from each other.
In the series finale of Lost, we learn that the entire 6th season of "flash sideways" was in fact a fabricated utopia or purgatory forged by these people as a place to meet in the afterlife. The sideways world starts with our characters back on Oceanic flight 815, heading towards LAX. In this world, they don't crash. Instead, they land safely and proceed to go about their lives. On the surface, their sideways lives don't seem to be any better than that of their island doppelgangers. Kate is still in handcuffs. Sawyer is still searching for his parents' murderer. Hurley is still the unfortunate winner of a substantial lottery prize. But as the season progresses, you realize that these sideways avatars are different. What changed wasn't their problems, but rather, how they approached their problems. Jack reconciles with his son in an attempt to be the kind of father Christian was not. Hurley's lottery fortune makes him the luckiest man alive. Ben becomes a school teacher with Alex as a pupil. And most importantly, we get to see an image of the island buried deep in the Pacific Ocean.
The best part is, all these characters continue to cross paths and meet in this sideways world. I interpret this as a commentary on our destinies to be in each other's lives and our human inability to escape the big picture plan that has been mapped out for us.
The concept of fate and destiny is further examined with the parallel events taking place on the island. Back on the island, the fight for good and evil continues, ending with evil incarnate defeated and our protagonist's death march back to the exact spot in the bamboo forest where Jack's island life began. Hurley becomes the new guardian and Ben becomes second in command. Again, these are destinies that these men could not escape. Any master plan they had for themselves were quickly eradicated for a plan that benefited the greater good. Community, destiny, fate and redemption...these were all themes that the writers executed dogmatically.
Now that we know the sideways world takes place in their afterlife, I see their mini-resolutions as representation of these character's deepest yearnings and desires. Why else would the island end up at the bottom of the ocean? They wish the island never existed of course! These are new and improved versions of their island self. These are the people they always wanted to be. Knowing that these beloved characters had this place to not only meet, but to carry out their heart's deepest wishes makes this the perfect ending to a complex body of work.
How appropriate is it that the viewers find out in the last ten minutes of the finale that the sideways world was not real? In true Lost tradition, nothing is ever as it seems. This was the final fake-out. The ultimate "long con."
The reaction to the series finale has been all over the map. Some hate it for its spiritual, lovey dovey approach. Some are furious that most of the mystery behind the island's unusual properties were never addressed. The writers satisfied our emotional side with a nice "happily ever afterlife" kind of ending. What some fans are still yearning for are answers to stroke our intellectual side. Why is Walt special? Who is dropping pallets of food on the island? Who built the four-toed statue? The list goes on.
But as Christian Shepard suggested, we need to let go.
The Lost story is ultimately about people. The series started with character studies done nicely in the form of flashbacks. Somewhere along the way, the series turned into a story about how these characters carried the plot forward. And at the end it's still about the people, their love and their redemption. A few days ago, I wanted an alternate ending. Today, I can't imagine how it could have ended any other way.
In the spirit of letting go, I think I'm OK with letting go of my unanswered questions about the island mysteries. My take-away is that the island is just a metaphor for people. It's mysterious, it's complicated, it's violent, it's coveted by some and exploited by others, it's beautiful, it's ugly and at the heart, there is a light that is both pure and evil. Pure if we harness it properly and evil if we uncork it and let it run wild. Who amongst us can't relate with that?
Namaste.
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