Lost

Beautiful...absolutely beautiful. That has been my reaction after the finale of the final season of "Lost," arguably the greatest television drama in history. There has been a certain amount of audacity with "Lost" that cannot be found anywhere else on television.

And here is a list of my favorite moments:

WARNING: Nobody likes (or should like) spoilers. "Lost" is a show filled with an enormous amount of twists. If you have not seen "Lost," if you are not caught up on all the episodes, if you have never seen the show and actually don't expect ever to see the show (there's still a chance you will change your mind), please, I implore you, I beg you, please don't read this post.

25. Joe Purdy's "Wash Away" (season 1)
24. Desmond is on Oceanic 815 (season 6)
23. There is a light in the hatch (season 1)
22. "Who's the President of the United States?" (season 5)
21. The first DHARMA Initiative video (season 2)
20. "Ben Linus, European History" (season 6) (of course the show's main "bad guy" teaches European History)
19. Hurley writes "The Empire Strikes Back" (season 5)
18. The tables are turned and Sayid is tortured by DHARMA (season 5)
17. Ethan's name can't be found on the flight's list (season 1)
16. The black chick? Rose's husband is found (season 2)
15. Ben confronts Whidmore off the island (season 4)
14. The introduction of Jacob and the Man in Black (season 5)
13. Richard is reunited with his dead wife (season 6)
12. Boone visits Locke in a dream (season 3)
11. The death of Charlie (season 3)
10. Desmond finally contacts Penny (season 4)
9. Mikhail's "death" (season 3)
8. "I was wrong"--the destruction of the hatch (season 2)
7. In a cabin in a woods--the introduction of Jacob (season 3)
6. The hatch is more comfortable than one would think (season 2)
5. "You guys got any milk?" (season 2)
4. Oceanic 815 in retrospect (season 1)
3. The plane crash (season 1)
2. Jack's flashback isn't exactly a flashback (season 3)
1. Locke's walkabout, sort of (season 1)

Aside from season four, which was the only season that seemed to provoke more anger and frustration from me than happiness and satisfaction, all seasons were tremendous. If I were to list them in order of least greatest to greatest, it would be as follows: seasons 4, 5, 6, 2, 3, 1. Season one in particular was exceptional because of its ability to construct a more entertaining form of "Castaway" and do so by introducing its audience to such profound characters, which only grew as the seasons progressed. Season two had much of that same energy, and it introduced great characters like Ben Linus, Mr. Eko, and Desmond, but it seemed to digress as the characters were now washing their hair with shampoo and wielding guns against the Others. Season three seemed to return to that sense of energy and adventure of season one, and had such a brilliant finale. Season four, again, was frustrating, with new characters who were not quite as engaging, and season five's only flaw that I can remember was its time travel which became taxing. Season six, other than the mythology episode and some other minor annoyances, was stellar.

Take, for example, the opening of season six, which opened with the sky. Jack stared out the window of the plane, and it was as if nothing--no Smoke Monster, no Others, no Jacob--had happened. Some things, though, were quite peculiar. Astute observers would have noticed that unlike the actual opening on season one, Jack was now a bit alarmed by the plane, while Rose was the calm one. But things were really peculiar when Desmond, who certainly had nothing to do with the flight, happened to be on the plane. Why? Viewers would have to wait literally to the end to find out. But it was an immediate, succinct, and calm way to start the newest and final season with a bit of a twist.

There were some very humorous moments, as well, such as when Dr. Chang discovered that several new members of the DHARMA Initiative were actually from the future. Dr. Chang suddenly believed that Faraday was right--Faraday, Hurley, and Miles were from the future, and Miles was Chang's son. Could it really be? Miles, angry about his father and the lack of guidance he had from him in his life, denied the fantastical reality. Hurley also wanted to deny the allegations. "Dude, that's ridiculous," he assured Chang. But Chang knew he was dealing with an idiot. "What year were you born?" he immediately asked. They were in the year 1977, and Hurley was not capable of doing such quick math. "Ah...19...31," was his answer. That would make him forty-six years old, Chang wondered out loud. That's correct, Hurley replied. "So you fought in the Korean War?" he is asked. "There's no such thing." (Perhaps Hurley shouldn't be blamed, for the Korean War is practically skipped in U.S. History classes.) A final question: "Who's the President of the United States?" Unable to understand that it was Jimmy Carter, he surrendered: "Alright, dude, we're from the future." Not groundbreaking or surprising, but nonetheless it was quite funny. (On a side note: I suppose I was a bit disappointed that in season six, it was never explained what happened to Chang in the real timeline, and since Miles left the island, it could be assumed that Chang was left behind.)


There were some inevitable angry moments. Admittedly, it took me a bit to be at peace with the decision to kill off Locke and have his persona sort of reincarnated through "the Man in Black," or Jacob's nemesis. I was eventually able to appreciate that Terry O' Quinn was provided another vehicle to demonstrate his range by being a full-flown villain (and, after all, we saw John Locke often in the flash sideways story line). One thing that could not be initially reconciled, however (until the writers fixed it), was the revelation early in season six in which the Smoke Monster returned. After killing several adversaries, Locke/Man in Black reemerged and apologized to Ben. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that." The Smoke Monster was Jacob's enemy? But eventually it seemed that the creators fixed their mistake, for it was revealed (though not explicitly explained) that the Smoke Monster had emerged from the magic light, killed Jacob's brother (which turned out to be "Adam") and thus only occupied his body, just as it had later done so with John Locke's body. At least my conclusion has been that, alas, the Smoke Monster is a genuine monster, not simply an arbitrary tyrannosaurus periodically showing up, or Jacob's brother, but some sort of genuinely evil entity, a demon per se. Either the writers had planned this all along, or they heeded the viewers' complaints.

There were other minor annoyances. I did not like how Mikhail was "killed"--and by killed, I mean blood squirting from his head--but then randomly showed up again, only to die a second time (and sort of, at least, a third time). If the justification was that his character was good enough to arbitrarily return, I suppose I could be satisfied with that. There was also the weird thing about the "darkness" inside "crazy Claire," which was just ignored for the remainder of the show. And many reviewers were so impressed with Evangeline Lilly's performance (she has always been one of "Lost's" best performers), but I could not help but find it silly that she "remembered" her time on the island after viewing Claire's you-know-what during the childbirth scene, with that vaudeville crossed-eye look of hers.

One thing that I was satisfied with was the writers' refusal to answer every question. With season six, there was a growing chorus arguing that virtually every mystery must be answered. The writers had mixed results with this. There was Hurley literally saying, "So...that's what the whispers are?" when that pointless revelation was issued, but there was also the right path chosen: not every mystery needed to be solved. I was reminded of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," one of the better "Star Trek" films. The film begins with a group of aliens who return to Earth, and it seems that these aliens are angry without explanation, for they start to destroy the planet. Spock and others conclude that the aliens have been trying to communicate with whales, which in this hypothetical future, the whales are extinct. Thus, the crew must journey home to 1986 to bring back a whale to the future and calm the aliens down. But the studio was not happy with the opening, and insisted that subtitles be issued to assure that the audience would understand what was going on. But director Leonard Nimoy and others stood their ground--ambiguity is sometimes necessary. As was the case with many of "Lost's" mysteries.


At first I wanted to concentrate on my anger about the lackadaisical manner of killing off some of the characters, or the ill-timed mythology episode featuring Allison Jenning. But why focus so much energy on forgettable things? Will I really remember such anger? Or will I remember the brilliance of such a show, and the fantastic moments I have had watching it? How can I possibly offer sincere criticism of the writers simply because I slightly disagree with some of their actions? If I were on their level of brilliant writing and creativity, then perhaps such criticism would be acceptable, but as of now, it is not.

One side note that has almost nothing to do with the aforementioned observations: Did you ever notice that Fisher Stevens, the man who plays the ill-fated crew member of the freighter and who later appeared in season six as flash-sideways Desmond's driver, is the Oscar-winning producer of "The Cove?"

And oh, how much I have left out. I did not write about my favorite characters--the complexities of Ben Linus, the flaws of John Locke, the struggles of Jack Shepherd, Michael Giacchino's excellent musical score, the Biblical symbolism of Jacob (notice that Benjamin is the son of Jacob in the Bible), or even some of the Korean moments. I did not write about the feud between Ben and Charles Whidmore, or the beautiful moment of Penny and Desmond being reunited, or the satisfactory way in which the secret of Richard Alpus's everlasting youth had been revealed. There was philosophy ("man is the author of his own soul" as John Locke the actual philosopher said), religion (not really faith versus science so much as order versus nothingness, according to the writers). There was science fiction (time travel and parallel universes), mythology (Jacob and his brother, plus a considerable amount of mythological archetypes), mystery (everything) and pop culture references (mostly to "Star Trek" and "Star Wars").

I do not profess to be a deep thinker of these things. Indeed, I did not foresee that Dr. Chang would be Miles' father or that Juliet would be Jack's ex-wife in the sideways story line. But that further justifies my main thesis of "Lost": while adding additional layers of "thinking persons'" material, it has always been essentially a show to entertain. One could totally ignore all the symbolism of the show and still be truly entertained by it. It was, at its essence, a show about characters lost on an island. And it was absolutely brilliant. And it will absolutely be missed. There will never be another show like "Lost."