LOST Finale – “They’re All Okay”
For the true multi-sensory experience, listen to this song while reading today’s post.
The show is over. LOST is complete. Everyone is okay.
That’s what I took away from last night’s LOST series finale: they were all okay. That was my thought as the curtain closed on LOST. “They all made it.”
They were with each other and time was never going to run out on them again.
They would never be separated again.
They had each other.
Sure, there were plot holes that were left unfilled. We may not have gotten all the “answers” we were seeking, but that’s partly what made LOST, LOST. You didn’t get all the answers. We don’t know what was up with Walt, what happened to Sawyer, Kate, Lapidus, Alpert and Miles after they left the island, or what was really going on with Eloise Hawking.
But isn’t that just like life? We don’t get all the answers. We don’t know why 4-year-olds die of cancer, why crooked people seem to triumph so often, or why life has to be so painful sometimes. Sometimes there are no answers. LOST keyed in on this uniquely human aspect to life and worked it over, and over, and over.
LOST = Snapshot of Heaven
I was so pleased with the finale because of the picture it painted for the possibilities of Heaven. A place with no time. A place where relationships with those we love are intact. A place that’s “real.” A place where we’re unfettered by past hindrances–where we can be the people we were created to be. A place where people can “let go.” Amen.
We see Jack’s tragic and consistent need to “fix people” be redeemed when he saves his friends and gets them off the island. We see Hurley become The Guardian–a role that we as the audience can believe. Hurley was more than comic relief, he was a soul saver. We see Ben light up as he’s asked to be a part of something without having to weasel his way in. We see John Locke walk. We see Christian leading our LOST crew into a wave of light, illustrated by the image at the top of this post. They’re all okay.
The analogy wasn’t perfect by any means. For instance, the writers of LOST were none-to-subtle in suggesting that “all roads lead to Heaven.” The closing scene with Jack and his father, Christian, was rife with universalism. In the screen cap below, you can see the stained glass window with multiple religious symbols–Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism and Christianity. I took this as a suggestion that it doesn’t matter what road you take, they all end up in the same place. This would be a nice, sentimental parting shot except for the fact that most major world religions believe that their way is the only way. In others words, Islam does not teach that all roads lead to heaven. Their way does and no one else’s. But I digress …
Our Deep Desire for the Spiritual
LOST was able to go to places where few television shows bothered to tread. The show was deeply spiritual, and unashamedly so. The reason why it was so popular with so many people is because LOST alluded to a reality that we all hope to be true. “Everything’s going to be okay.” As human beings with inner spirits, we all pick up on this “behind-the-scenes” reality and hope beyond hope that it’s true.
That we’ll be with the people we love.
That there’s something for us after we die.
That light will conquer darkness.
Certainly the Christian faith suggests this. Scripture teaches that God will make the wrong things right; that relationships will never be severed again; and death will be no more. Everything is going to be all right. Where we as Christians get this wrong is when we make Heaven a place that’s hard to get in to. When we put up religious roadblocks for people instead of realizing that God is at work in the lives of all people. Our job is to recognize it and amplify it. No checklists or picket signs needed.
Final Thoughts
All in all, LOST‘s series finale met and exceeded my expectations. It left me wanting more, not wanting it to end–the sign of any well-told story. I wonder if the LOST writing team got so close to capturing a snapshot of heaven that some people, for the first time, can actually believe it’s a real place. A lofty assertion for any television show, no doubt. But LOST was more than TV. It was art. It was story. It was life. It was good.
What did you think?
loved it. I'd rather spend my time on a show with some plot holes, but a compelling story and real emotional investment into complex characters than the other way around.
it was an amazing ride and a fantastic ending. so grateful for the experience.
Loved it, too. I'm okay living without all the answers. I figure it's kind of like God. If He's easy enough to figure out, then I'm not sure I want to be following. He's smarter, wiser, craftier, subtler, bigger, and all things -er than me. And I'm good with that.
I think I was most humbled and moved at the unending possibilities of redemption for Ben. I remember half-cheering on Sayid (sp?) as he kicked the crap out of twisty, coiling, snake Ben in the first or second season. Towards the end, he became one of the most endearing characters for me. He kept screwing up, but always found a way back to reconciliation. Somehow, someway. And as he sat on the bench outside of the church, not quite ready to go in, he knew he had found forgiveness and redemption for his many, many failures. But he also knew he didn't deserve the forgiveness he found. He mirrored the best and worst of me, I think. I hope he eventually found his way inside…
Loved the series; but I felt like the poetry of “the observer changing the observed” ended just about thirty minutes shy of Jack's eye.
An admirable, captivating series; a weak end for a strong show.
I did love the prophetic implications, however: the Last hours of LOST occurred on Pentecost Sunday.
Say what you will, that's the poetic ending I was looking for and got.
Megs
If there's one thing I know about you, Megs, is that you're a poet. And, as Ice-T is fond of saying, “Game knows game.” You know poetry (words-in-motion) when you see it! LOST, I believe, was poetry…. Or is it “poetr-eye”?
Girl, that's rich. You should, like, be a writer or something
For realz … LOST was letting mystery be mysterious. Let's hold the tension!
Ditto. Great sentiments!
Okay. But only because you said so. And because your last name's “Wise.” I figure with a surname like that, you must know what you're talkin' about.
Okay. But only because you said so. And because your last name's “Wise.” I figure with a surname like that, you must know what you're talkin' about.